The Old Bailey heard how a builder, Mujahid Arshid, 33, allegedly kidnapped and raped his niece, Celine Dookhran, 20, and put her body in a deep freezer and padlocked it shut. He was caught after a second woman he abducted convinced him that they could be lovers and escaped.
The court was told that Arshid was “sexually fixated” on Celine Dookhran and her friend who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Celine was a British Indian who worked at Barclays Bank in Mitcham, SouthwestLondon. Both victims are said to have fallen out with their families about their boyfriends. It is said that Celine's step-father disapproved of her Libyan Muslim boyfriend, and told her that she should be with a Pakistani Muslim instead.
Arshid, who is a British Pakistani builder, is accused of taking advantage of these women's family dispute, and planning to kidnap them and making the scenario seem as though they had run away from home.
On 19th July 2017, Arshid and his accomplice, Vincent Tappu, 28, who worked as a builder for him, allegedly kidnapped the two women.
Crispin Aylett, QC, for the prosecution said, “Arshid drove the two young women to the house and once he got them inside he tied them to the pipes in the utility room. All the while he was armed with a lock knife. He took the first woman upstairs to a bedroom and raped her and then brought her back down. Later, the same thing happened to Celine. After he raped both women he took Celine to the bathroom and he cut her throat while her mouth was still stuffed wth a sock. Celine died of a combination of restriction of her airways and the blood that she lost. He then took the second woman upstairs and cut her throat as well, but she was not to die from her injuries. Once he realised he had not actually killed her – he had told her she would be dead within ten minutes – she promised, in order to get herself out, that they could still be together and he appears to have fallen for that ruse.”
The prosecutor further added, “As the second women was trying to talk Arshid round, he described himself to her as a nasty, horrible, evil person. It may be that after you have heard all the evidence in this case you will come to agree with his assessment of his character.”
Mujahid Arshid from Mitcham is accused of sexual assault; kidnap; two rapes; murder; as well as attempted murder. He denies all the charges against him. Vincent Tappu from Acton, West London, denies two charges of kidnap. Both deny conspiracy to falsely imprison the two women.
The trial continues.
