Celine Dookhran: London 'honour killing' suspects appear in court

No plea entered by defendants Mujahid Hussain and Vincent Tappu at Old Bailey

Celine Dookhran (Twitter)

Two men have appeared in court in connection with alleged kidnap, rape and murder of Celine Dookhran.

Mujahid Hussain, 33, and Vincent Tappu, 28, did not enter a plea during a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey.

Hussain, also known as Arshid, was charged with the murder, rape and kidnap of 20-year-old Miss Dookhran.

The defendant, of no fixed address, was further charged with the rape, attempted murder and kidnap of a second victim, a woman aged in her 20s.

Prosecutors allege that Hussain murdered Miss Dookhran, who was of Indian Muslim heritage, in a suspected “honour killing” for being in a relationship with an Arab Muslim.

Friends remembered her as a “beautiful, intelligent soul”, who was known for giving advice on beauty and make-up on social media.

Her social media included posts about religious holidays and fasting during Ramadan, with a final tweet posted eight days before her death, reading: “Alhamdulillah [praise God] for everything that's all I can say”.

Tappu, of Spencer Road in Ealing, was charged with the kidnap of Miss Dookhran and the second victim.

Miss Dookhran’s body was found inside a fridge at a house in Kingston on 19 July, hours after she was reported missing alongside the older woman.

She was formally identified on Monday and a post-mortem gave the cause of death as an “incised wound to the neck”.

A trial date has been set for 17 January, as Miss Dookhran’s family are being supported by a family liaison officer.

Scotland Yard originally gave the victim's age as 19 but later revised it to 20.

A 29-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender in relation to the case has been released as the investigation continues, the Metropolitan Police said.

A separate investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission is underway because of the short time between the two women being reported missing to police and her body being discovered.