A profoundly deaf woman was punched in the neck by a raver nicknamed 'Nasty' and then left to die in the street, a court has heard. Zahwa Mukhtar, 27, was thrown out of a car in Chadwell Heath, Romford, and fatally attacked by Duane Owusu on a quiet street in east London in the early hours of 16 August last year, the Old Bailey was told.
Opening Owusu's murder trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Henrietta Paget KC said the case concerned the 'senseless killing of a vulnerable young woman' who had fallen in with a group of strangers on a night out. Ms Mukhtar, who was profoundly deaf after contracting meningitis at the age of three, was described as a 'bright, bubbly, enthusiastic' woman who aspired to become an accountant and worked as a finance assistant at the Young Vic Theatre in Waterloo.
The court heard that on the evening before the fatal incident, Owusu, 36, had attended a rave and travelled in a silver Mercedes with a group of people he knew. Ms Mukhtar had been out by herself and come across the group by chance outside a pub in Stoke Newington. She joined them in the car, sitting on the defendant's lap with seven people inside. She was behaving erratically, filming on her phone, which prompted the defendant to order the driver to stop.
Ms Paget told jurors that Owusu threw out Ms Mukhtar's phone and then ejected her from the car. He then kicked her twice in the face as she sat on the ground and punched her hard in the neck, knocking her to the ground where she lay motionless. CCTV footage showed the attack outside a care home. Instead of helping her, the defendant allegedly told the others to get back in the car, which was driven away, leaving her to die.
After a minute, the car returned and voices were heard saying 'Leave her bro' and 'We can't leave her like that', before the vehicle drove off again. Police stopped the car soon after but no arrests were made, and the group was sent on their way. Passers-by later alerted officers to a woman lying on the pavement. Owusu, from Dagenham, has pleaded not guilty to murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter. The trial continues.
