THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The parents of Shafilea Ahmed, who believed their 17-year-old daughter had brought shame on the family for wanting to live a western lifestyle, have been been jailed for 25-years each after being found guilty of her murder.
Iftikhar Ahmed and his wife Farzana were convicted of the honour killing today following a three month trial at Chester Crown Court.
Shafilea's father showed no emotion as he was sentenced but his wife sobbed loudly. Trial judge Mr Justice Roderick Evans told them: "Your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than the love of your child."
The court had been told how the couple from the same village in rural Pakistan had jointly killed their 17-year-old daughter after claiming her behaviour had brought the family into disrepute.
They had clashed with their eldest daughter over her westernised lifestyle and objected to her wearing the same clothes as her white friends, rather than traditional Pakistani dress.
In 2003, months before she disappeared she was forced to travel to Pakistan, where she was expected to marry a man more than ten years her senior.
In desperation Shafilea swallowed bleach, badly burning her throat and causing the man to call off the marriage. He declared she was “damaged goods”.
She returned to Britain but went missing from the family home in Warrington in September 2003. » | Friday, August 03, 2012
