Mother Guilty Of Killing Daughter Amid Affair

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A mother and her lesbian lover have been found guilty of killing an eight-year-old girl during their affair.

Polly Chowdhury, 35, and Kiki Muddar, 43, were convicted at the Old Bailey on Wednesday of the manslaughter of Chowdhury's daughter Ayesha Ali.

Both women held their heads in their hands as the verdicts were read out.

The cause of the girl's death was recorded as a head injury, but Ayesha had suffered more than 50 injuries, including a bite mark on her shoulder and carpet burns. When paramedics found her she had been dead for some time.

During proceedings, the court was told how the women's affair revolved around fictional Facebook characters that Muddar used to control Chowdhury.

The jury was also told how the little girl was terrorised at night by the women wearing nightmarish masks.

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Gallery: Ayesha Ali, 8, Killed After 'Campaign Of Abuse'

Ayesha Ali, eight, died from a head injury on 29 August, 2013

The Old Bailey heard that Ayesha suffered a campaign of abuse at the hands of her mother and her lover

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The little girl wrote a "naughty list" in the months before she died

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Polly Chowdhury was controlled by Kiki Muddar

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Muddar was heard in a phone call to a friend threatening to kill the little girl

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Examples from 41,000 text messages between the pair were read out in court to show how Muddar would influence her lover by telling her that Ayesha was "evil".

The court heard that on 29 August, 2013, Muddar dialled 999 to report Chowdhury had tried to kill herself in the bath and that Ayesha was dead.

Chowdhury had left a series of notes, in which she appeared to admit the killing, saying: "I have taken my life and Ayesha's life."

Muddar had befriended Chowdhury when they lived next door to each other, and she used the Facebook alter egos to seduce her and turn her against her daughter, telling her "you have no right to ever love or like your evil daughter".

Both women had denied murder, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child between 1 March and 29 August, 2013.

Muddar, who was diagnosed with a borderline narcissistic personality disorder, refused to give evidence but claimed she was at her parents' house on the night Ayesha died.

The Metropolitan Police said Muddar left the house in Chadwell Heath, East London, on 28 August and later returned having appeared to have bought a new shower hose. A statement from police said this implied the existing shower hose had been used to assault Ayesha.

Chowdhury told the court Muddar was giving her daughter a cold bath as punishment for wetting herself when she received her fatal injury.

She said she found Muddar with her foot on the girl's chest in the bathroom, but after pushing her off went back to looking for a job on her computer.

The child's father, Afsar Ali, 35, attended the trial each day and has told how he will never forgive his ex-wife for falling under the spell of their next-door-neighbour.

"It's completely destroyed my life from now until I die," he said.

"She loved life and her family and all she wanted was to be part of a happy family. I was her superhero, her super daddy.

"The reason why I wanted to attend every day was I wanted to relive Ayesha's life, feel the pain. I don't think I can ever imagine what she had to go through."

Judge Christopher Moss QC remanded the women in custody. They will be sentenced on Friday.

Speaking outside court, Detective Sergeant Andy Nimmo said: "Ayesha Ali was an innocent and defenceless eight-year-old child caught up in a bizarre set of circumstances and manipulated by two adults who were intent on causing her harm.

"Through social media and text, Muddar created a sophisticated web of lies and deceit which took officers months to unpick. What unravelled was a picture of enormous hatred directed towards Ayesha by both Muddar and Chowdhury.

"Ayesha should have been able to turn to one person who she could trust - her mother - but Chowdhury had allowed herself to become influenced by Muddar and together they inflicted serious emotional and finally physical harm on Ayesha."

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