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03/08/2012
Shafilea's Parents Jailed For Life
The parents of a 17-year-old schoolgirl have been jailed for life for her murder.
Shafilea Ahmed was the victim of a so-called 'honour killing' in 2003.
She went missing from her home in Warrington, Cheshire and was found dead on the banks of the River Kent in Cheshire six months later.
The prosecution said her parents suffocated her with a plastic bag because they believed she brought shame on the family.
Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, had denied her murder but the jury at Chester Crown Court returned guilty verdicts against them both.
Mr Justice Roderick Evans told them: "Your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than the love of your child."
Police investigating the murder were so convinced her parents had killed the teenager they "bugged" the family home to listen in on their conversations.
In recordings, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed appeared to know that they might be under surveillance but discussed how they could get away with murder and how to use the media to their advantage.
The court heard from Shafilea's sister Alesha, now 23, that her parents pushed Shafilea on to the settee in their house and forced a plastic bag into her mouth, in front of the other children.
She said her parents had attacked Shafilea before, and the teenager was torn between a Western lifestyle and their demands she wear traditional clothes and agree to an arranged marriage.
Both parents will serve a minimum of 25 years, the judge told them.
(NE/GK)
Shafilea Ahmed was the victim of a so-called 'honour killing' in 2003.
She went missing from her home in Warrington, Cheshire and was found dead on the banks of the River Kent in Cheshire six months later.
The prosecution said her parents suffocated her with a plastic bag because they believed she brought shame on the family.
Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, had denied her murder but the jury at Chester Crown Court returned guilty verdicts against them both.
Mr Justice Roderick Evans told them: "Your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than the love of your child."
Police investigating the murder were so convinced her parents had killed the teenager they "bugged" the family home to listen in on their conversations.
In recordings, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed appeared to know that they might be under surveillance but discussed how they could get away with murder and how to use the media to their advantage.
The court heard from Shafilea's sister Alesha, now 23, that her parents pushed Shafilea on to the settee in their house and forced a plastic bag into her mouth, in front of the other children.
She said her parents had attacked Shafilea before, and the teenager was torn between a Western lifestyle and their demands she wear traditional clothes and agree to an arranged marriage.
Both parents will serve a minimum of 25 years, the judge told them.
(NE/GK)
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