Dagenham stalker who burned ex’s clothes and posted naked body online found guilty

Anhar Hussain, 23, from Dagenham, pleaded guilty to arson, harassment – fear of violence, dangerous driving and driving without a license and no insurance before going to court on November 21.

The victim, a woman in her 20s, began a relationship with Hussain in 2020, but things broke down in March 2021 when Hussain became abusive.

In April 2021, he created a fake social media account in the victim’s name and began communicating with her family – something she only found out a year later when she spoke to her mother, who had not turned up abroad.

The victims were told to leave the family home and the couple moved into an apartment Romford where he subjected her to controlling coercive behavior.

A Metropolitan police The statement said: “During the altercations, he yelled and screamed in her face, punched the walls next to her, threw household items at her, including a laptop, dragged and pushed her around the house and threw her on the couch.”

Hussain kept a single set of keys to the property at all times, kept the house locked when he left without her, and tracked her movements through the doorbell camera.

“In another case, Hussain threw the victim’s clothes out of the apartment and then went outside and set her on fire,” the statement added.

“The victim tried to get them, but he picked her up and tried to force her into his car. She screamed loudly and he dropped her, allowing her to escape.’

After she moved out of the apartment, he began to call her up to 700 times a day and threatened to throw bricks at her mother’s house, saying that if she did not come, “people will suffer.” He also tried to convince her to come back by sending pictures of him crying and doing housework.

But the court heard that when that failed, he continued to pursue her and on one occasion drove his car into hers until it crashed.

The statement said: “This has been a long ordeal for a woman who has suffered various forms of violence at the hands of Hussain. Her relationships with friends and family were destroyed, her ability to work and her financial prospects hampered. Most of all, moving on in life turned out to be more than difficult.”

The Met was able to track down Hussain using analytics software, the first of its kind to map phone signals from anywhere.

This, combined with other communications and travel data, allowed detectives to identify and uncover Hussain’s stalking patterns by June of this year, when he was arrested.

PC Cattleya Kitisara, investigating, said: “The victim in this case has shown sheer courage and unwavering strength over the past six months.

“I have the utmost respect for her and appreciate the patience and support she has given the police during this lengthy investigation. She has moved from her position of losing faith to trying to move on when the perpetrator is no longer harming her.

“Having been out on bail twice, he showed no respect for our justice system and continued to harass, threaten and cause suffering to the victim in every way possible.”

Hussain is in custody pending sentencing on Monday, December 19.