Murder By Skype? Man Accused Of Ordering Lover To Drown Baby While He Watched

Murder By Skype? Man Accused Of Ordering Lover To Drown Baby While He Watched
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A man is on trial for the murder of a baby over Skype from 700 miles away.

The married man is said to have ordered the woman he was having an affair with to drown her crying toddler in a bucket when she interrupted his call to her mother.

Ammaz Qureshi, 35, was using the video chat service from his home in London to talk to his lover in Norway, a court heard.

He became angry when the woman's one-year-old Hunaina started crying so he told his lover to submerge the girl in a bucket of water to discipline her.

He then watched live as the girl was held under water twice before she lost consciousness.

Her mother, Yasmin Chaudhry, called the emergency services, claiming the child fell in accidentally, but Hunaina died in hospital the next day.

Prosecutor Cecilie Schlosser Moller said: "She was subjected to physical violence during disciplining. In the end, it went too far and she died. By submerging the girl in the bucket, they would have anticipated her death. She was a small, defenceless girl who was subjected to extensive abuse."

Qureshi, from Pinner, north London, had been married for seven years when he began an affair with mother-of-two Chaudhry during a visit to London in February 2010.

They stayed in contact by Skype when she returned home to Oslo.

Qureshi allegedly watched after he encouraged Chaudhry to abuse the girl by forcing her to eat chilli powder and by tying up her arms and legs.

Chaudhry, 28, admits child abuse but denies premeditated murder.

Qureshi denies murder and his lawyer said: "My client is baffled that he is accused of a crime committed in a country which he had never set foot in."