A Cardiff man has become the first person in the UK to be prosecuted under forced marriage laws introduced a year ago.
The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was jailed for 16 years after making a 25-year-old woman marry him under duress last year.
Merthyr Crown Court heard the already married man systematically raped his victim for months before threatening to go public with hidden camera footage of her showering unless she became his wife.
'Irrational obsession'
The 34-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, developed an “irrational obsession” with his victim and lured her to his home under the promise of a get-together with friends.
But when she arrived at his home in Cardiff, the woman found the property empty before the curtains were drawn and the front door locked.
A judge then told of how the terrified woman - a devout Muslim - was bound and gagged with scarves before music was played loudly to drown out her cries for help.
But the woman’s ordeal was far from over.
She was shown secret footage of her showering moments after her virginity had been cruelly stolen and her attacker later threatened to make the video public unless she married him. » | Benjamin Wright | Wednesday, June 10, 2015
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Première condamnation au Royaume-Uni pour un mariage force : Un homme qui avait contraint une jeune femme à l'épouser a été condamné à 16 ans de prison. Une première depuis l'entrée en vigueur de la loi sur les mariages forcés. ¶ Un homme marié de 34 ans a été condamné à seize ans de prison par un tribunal du Pays-de-Galles pour avoir contraint une jeune femme à l'épouser. Il s'agit de la première application de la législation de 2014 contre les unions forcées. ¶ Le condamné est un homme d'affaires gallois, dont l'identité n'a pas été divulguée. Il a aussi plaidé coupable de viols, bigamie et voyeurisme, ont précisé les services du procureur de la couronne (CPS), dans un communiqué. » | ats/Newsnet | mercredi 10 juin 2015
