Ayesha Ali death: Mother and her lover convicted of torturing and killing daughter

A photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of Ayesha Ali (PA)

A woman and her lesbian lover are facing years behind bars for torturing, abusing and killing her eight-year-old daughter while in the grip of a “sophisticated web of lies and deceit”.

Polly Chowdhury, 35, and Kiki Muddar, 43, were found guilty of manslaughter over the death of Chowdhury’s daughter, Ayesha Ali, at their home east London home in August 2013, but were cleared of murder.

During their investigation, officers unravelled a set of alter egos on Facebook and in text messages which Muddar had created to control and seduce Chowdhury, encouraging her to discipline her daughter because she saw her as a threat.

Mother Polly Chowdhury (left), 35, and her lesbian lover Kiki Muddar, were found guilty of killing Ayesha Ali after getting caught up in a twisted romance revolving around fictional Facebook characters (PA)

Muddar, who has been diagnosed with a borderline narcissistic personality disorder, had befriended Chowdhury in 2007 and she got sympathy by pretending to be fighting cancer. Chowdhury’s husband, Afsar Ali, moved the family to get away from her influence, but Muddar followed and evicted him from the marital bed, leading to the breakdown of the marriage.

Both women denied they were in a physical relationship, but Chowdhury told a psychiatrist that Muddar had “groomed” her for sex. Muddar had spun a web of lies through fake personas, including Chowdhury’s “cyber boyfriend” Jimmy and a fake Muslim spirit guide, Skyman. Muddar went on to express her hatred for Ayesha, and even blamed her for making her cancer worse, the court heard. She told Chowdhury that Ayesha had “bad blood”, and bombarded her lover with more than 40,000 texts, telling her: “You have no right to ever love or like your evil daughter.”

In a recorded phone conversation with a friend the month before the killing, Muddar described Ayesha as “pure evil” and threatened to drown her in the bath. Days before the killing, the couple terrorised Ayesha in the night by taking it in turns to wear a scary mask. A neighbour heard the girl pleading with her mother: “I don’t want to be bad.”

The tragedy culminated in the death of Ayesha from a head injury, though she had suffered more than 40 injuries, including a bite mark and carpet burns. She was discovered by paramedics in her bedroom after Muddar dialled 999 to report that Chowdhury had tried to kill herself in the bath and that Ayesha was dead.

Chowdhury was still alive but had left a series of would-be suicide notes appearing to admit to the killing, saying: “I have taken my life and Ayesha’s life”. During the course of the investigation, however, police discovered evidence implicating Muddar in Ayesha’s death.

Mr Ali, who described Ayesha as his “sunshine” and “closest friend”, said in a statement read by his lawyer that the women “tortured her and took away her life” and it was “something I can never forgive”.

Judge Christopher Moss QC remanded the pair in custody with sentencing on Thursday.