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Facing jail: Violent husband who beat Muslim 'slave' bride 'every day' after arranged marriage

by renovatio | August 19, 2008 at 02:48 am

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In any society, whatever the cultural or religious beliefs, it is clear that this sort of treatment to any human being is brutal & cruel abuse.

A husband who constantly beat up his young wife and treated her as a 'slave' has been told he will be jailed.

Sania Bibi, 20, arrived in Britain from Pakistan following an arranged marriage to Haroon Akhtar and was forced to work 17-hour days cooking, cleaning and washing clothes for his family.

Her violent husband and his domineering mother Zafia Bibi, 50, threatened to shoot the terrified bride in the head if she did not follow their orders.

The victim told St Albans Crown Court she was attacked at least twice a day by her husband, with his mother egging him on.

On one occasion he threw her down the stairs after his mother complained she had not been doing her chores properly.

Her mother-in-law threatened that she would be sent back to Pakistan and shot in the head, as she was of no use to the family.

Akhtar, 28, was today convicted of five counts of actual bodily harm. The mother and son were also found guilty of causing fear of violence through harassment.