Couple found guilty of murdering teenage daughter in UK

August 4, 2012

17yearold

London, August 4: The girl was murdered by her Pakistani parents for her Western ways. And it was her little sister who bravely told jurors how her mother and father suffocated the 17-year-old with a plastic bag - gripping testimony that led to her parents' murder conviction on Friday.

Justice Roderick Evans sentenced Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, to life in prison for killing their daughter, Shafilea, in 2003. The couple - first cousins from the Pakistani village of Uttam - were ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.

"She was being squeezed between two cultures - the culture and way of life that she saw around her and wanted to embrace, and the culture and way of life you wanted to impose on her," Evans said during the sentencing at the Chester Crown Court in northwest England.


In Britain, more than 25 women have been killed in so-called "honor killings" in the past decade. Families have sometimes lashed out at their children on the belief that they have brought their household shame by becoming too westernized or by refusing a marriage.

Shafilea was only 10 when she began to rebel against her parents' strict rules, according to prosecutor Andrew Edis.

The young girl would hide make-up, false nails and western clothes at school, changing into conservative clothes before her parents picked her up.

But it was the last year of her life that proved to be the most traumatic.

During the trial that began in May, jurors heard from Shafilea's younger sister, Alesha, who said she witnessed the murder when she was 12.

After an argument about Shafilea's dress, her parents pushed her down on a couch, stuffed a thin white plastic bag into her mouth and held their hands over her mouth and nose until she died, Alesha testified.


As she was struggling, her mother said, "just finish it here," according to Alesha's testimony.

Although Shafilea's other siblings contradicted the testimony, the last-minute emergence of a diary convinced jurors.

The diary belonged to a friend of one of Shafilea's other sisters, Mev. In it, the friend relays conversations she had with the sister about the night Shafilea died - details that supported Alesha's testimony.

"The strong message goes out and should be very clear: If you engage in honor killings - if you engage in forced marriages - you will be caught and brought to justice," said Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim organization.

When Shafilea became a teenager, she became interested in boys - something that spurred punishment from her parents.

School officials alerted social services in October 2002 after Shafilea came to school with injuries to her face. That same month, Shafilea told a social worker that she was to be married in Pakistan in February 2003.

In January 2003, she ran away, telling friends her parents would not leave her alone. She eventually returned.

In February 2003, she ran away again and pleaded with British authorities to allow her to move out of her parents' house because, she said, they were abusive and trying to force her into an arranged marriage.

Some of Shafilea's own words also proved compelling to jurors.

In the application form to move out, she said she had suffered from regular domestic violence from the age of 15.

"One parent would hold me whilst the other hit me," she said.


Her father snatched her off the streets, however, in the same month as the application. He bundled her into a car and took her to Pakistan against her will, Alesha said.

In protest, Shafilea drank bleach and was brought back to Britain in May 2003. She spent eight weeks in the hospital trying to recover from damage done to her throat.

Even in her weakened and desperate state, Shafilea's parents were relentless.

One night, her parents complained she was wearing a T-shirt and wasn't properly covered up, according to Alesha. The younger sister said Shafilea struggled and struggled as her parents held her down.

Alesha described that after the attack, her siblings ran upstairs and she watched as her father carried Shafilea's body to the car wrapped in a blanket. She was reported missing shortly after, with her parents making a teary-eyed media appeal for information leading to their daughter.

But police were suspicious - so much so that they bugged the house.

Shafilea's decomposed remains were eventually discovered in the River Kent in Cumbria in February 2004, but it wasn't until 2010 that Alesha provided the key testimony.

Last year, the British government's Forced Marriage Unit investigated more than 1,400 cases of forced marriages, most of which occur in Muslim communities. Britain is home to more than 1.8 million Muslims, most from Pakistani roots.



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Agencies
May 26,2020

New Delhi, May 26: A massive fire broke out on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday in the slums of the Tughlaqabad area in south east Delhi in which over 250 shanties were gutted, however, no one was injured, fire officials said.

Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer, told IANS, "We came to know about the fire in the slums around 12.15 a.m. following which 28 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. And the fire was brought under control by 4 a.m."

He said, the Tughalaqbad slums have over 500 shanties, out of which over 250 have been destroyed in the fire.

He said, it took time for the fire tenders to reach the spot as it was on the hills, but the fire was doused within four hours and by 8 a.m. cooling off procedure has also been completed.

When asked if there is any casualty in the incident, he said, "No injury or casualty has been reported."

He also said that as of now the actual reason for the fire is not known. "But we are trying to find out the reason of the fire," Garg added.

South East Deputy Commissioner of Police R.P. Meena said, "In the night it seemed that almost 500 shanties were gutted. However, in the morning it became clear that only 250 shanties have been gutted in fire."

He said, the South East district police after receiving the call also rushed the ambulances and the local police team in the area for rescue operation. Meena further said that very few people were residing in the shanties, and the people came out of their shanties after the fire broke out in one of them.

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Agencies
February 6,2020

Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha President Ranjit Bachchan was shot dead on Sunday because of an extra-marital relationship of his second wife.

Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey said at a press conference here on Thursday that Ranjit Bachchan's second wife Smriti Srivastava, her paramour Dipendra and driver Sanjit Gautam have been arrested in connection with the case. All three were held on Thursday, while the shooter -- Jitendra -- is yet to be arrested.

Pandey said that Smriti wanted a divorce from Ranjit Bachchan and their case was pending in the family court since 2016. While she was keen to marry Dipendra, Ranjit Bachchan was unwilling to leave her.

"On January 17, Ranjit had met Smriti and even slapped her, which became the provocation for the murder," he said.

The Police Commissioner said that during investigation, the police had probed all possible angles, including a terror angle.

"We found there were no financial disputes, no property disputes and no terror angle to the case. It emerged that Smriti had an affair with Dipendra and wanted to leave Ranjit Bachchan, who had four criminal cases against him. Through technical and electronic surveillance, we found the connection between Smriti, Dipendra, driver Sanjit and the shooter Jitendra," he said.

Ranjeet Bachchan, 40, who had founded the Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha, was shot in the head on Sunday morning while his brother Aditya Srivastava was injured in the attack by the assailant who also snatched their mobile phones.

The attacker had covered himself in a shawl and was on foot. The police had released CCTV footages showing a suspect and announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for providing information.

Four police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were suspended for alleged laxity and a case was registered at the Hazratganj po

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Agencies
January 21,2020

Tengnoupal, Jan 21: A woman IPS officer has alleged that a rifleman of Assam Rifles physically assaulted and molested her at a check post near Moreh town in Manipur's Tengnoupal district, police said on Tuesday.

Based on a written complaint of the IPS officer, an FIR has been registered against rifleman P K Pandey and a summon has been issued to him to appear before the concerned police station, the police said.

Manipur DGP L M Khaute told reporters on Monday, "We have made contacts with the Assam Rifles authorities. A complaint has been lodged by the officer." In her complaint, the IPS officer said that on reaching Khudengtabi check post on Sunday afternoon one of her escorts, who was not in uniform, told the frisking party of Assam Rifles to register their entry.

Despite showing their identity cards, the rifleman allegedly detained them, she said.

"We offered to search ourselves and the vehicle, but he was not interested", she said.

The rifleman began hitting the official vehicle and "misbehaved, humiliated, harassed and assaulted me and my escort personnel," she alleged.

The IPS officer also alleged that the rifleman molested her and when her escorts tried to intervene, he thrashed them.

She further accused the rifleman of making "sexually coloured" remarks against her, using abusive language and even tried to snatch her phone when she tried to call her senior officers.

The issue was brought under control after the matter was reported to the Brigadier of 26th Assam Rifles and the Major of the D-company of 12th AR, police said.

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