As a journalist, I’m tired of writing about murdered women

Kulsuma Akter, Claire Chick, Harshita Brella, Holly Bramley, Emma Patterson, Louise Hunt…the list goes on.

As a journalist you get used to these names. They’re women killed by their current or former partners whose stories made the news.

Today, the killer of Kulsuma Akter has been found guilty of her murder.

Her "violent, controlling" husband, Habibur Masum, stabbed her “at least 25 times” in a street in Bradford as she pushed their baby son in a pram.

He had tracked her down to the refuge she was living in to escape his abuse.

During the trial, their marriage has been described as an “abusive” relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour."

In court, jurors heard how Kulsuma had left him before choosing to stay with her brother due to his behaviour.

In November 2023, he became jealous over a "completely innocuous" message she received from a male colleague, grabbing her face, slapping her and pulling her hair. The court heard he threatened to murder her and went into their bedroom carrying a knife and held it to her throat.

He has also previously told a doctor that "when he fights with her he feels like he is going to kill her".

There were clear warning signs.

Kulsuma’s case is not isolated. Tragically, others have suffered similar fates.

Claire Chick reported her estranged husband six times to Devon and Cornwall police before he stabbed her to death 23 times outside her home.

The university lecturer told police that Paul Butler’s "obsessive stalking" was making her life a "living hell" and that she believed he would kill her.

In the months leading up to her murder Claire told the force Butler was hanging around outside her house, leaving threatening voice notes, phone calls and e-mails.

Butler had been arrested three times for assault, harassment, and stalking. Despite being on bail and banned from going near her, Butler continued to stalk Claire, even putting a tracking device on her car and telling her he knew her exact movements.

Harshita Brella’s death is another stark reminder that even when women report their abusers, the systems designed to protect them can fail catastrophically.

Harshita contacted police about domestic violence in the months before her body was discovered in the boot of a car in East London.

Northamptonshire Police believe she was killed by her husband Pankaj Lamba - who has since fled the country.

Last August, Harshita made a report of domestic abuse to police leading to Lamba’s arrest. He was released on conditional bail and a domestic violence protection order was put in place. The order told Lamba not to harass, pester, or intimidate his wife.

But after 28 days, it expired. Harshita was found dead just over a month later. It is also understood due to her immigration status; she had no recourse to public funds.

Domestic abuse charities have repeatedly stressed that migrant women such as her are more vulnerable when they are subject to this condition.

Four police officers have been served disciplinary notices over alleged failings in their handling of the case. And Lamba has yet to be arrested for his alleged crimes.

These women did not die in isolation. They died despite desperately reaching out for help, doing everything they were supposed to do to get away. Their stories demand more than remembrance - they demand reform.

Their deaths are not just tragedies; they are indictments of a system that continues to ignore warning signs, overlook repeated threats, and fail those it should protect.

We owe them more than remembrance. We owe them urgent reform: police and judicial accountability, stronger protection measures for women at risk, real consequences for perpetrators, and full support for migrant and marginalised women. Until that happens, the list will keep growing.

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Flaminia Luck is an LBC Journalist.

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