A Pakistani man and four of his family members in Britain have been sentenced to years in prison after forcing his wife to become a house slave, subjecting her to cruelty and torture from October 2017 to April 2019.
The husband, Mohammed-Shuaib Arshid, brought his wife from Pakistan to the UK, after an arranged marriage, to their house in Hillingdon, West London, where he lived with his mother Nabila Shaheen, father Arshid Sadiq, brother Aqeel Arshid, and sister Zaib Arshid.
According to court details, the woman was forbidden from leaving the house or attending college, and could not contact her family members back in Pakistan. Her personal identity documents were taken from her, leading her to begging her husband for purchasing basic toileteries as she had no cash of her own.
The woman was subjected to torturous behavior by being forced to cook and clean around the house all day, and on one occasion was even forced to drink engine oil by the family. She was threatened with death by family members.
The court said that during these two years, the woman was subjected to both mental and physical abuse at the hands of the five family members, leaving her with long term psychological trauma.
According to Paul Jenkins, a senior district crown prosecutor for the CPS: “The victim believed that they were moving into a safe family home with a loving husband, but the subsequent actions of [the family] proved that this was not the case.
“The victim was subject to regular abuse whilst under their care, resulting in serious physical and psychological harm.”
A CPS spokesman spoke of the survivor’s plight: “Being the victim of violence or sexual assault is undoubtedly a harrowing experience – but when this abuse is ‘honour-based’, the challenges can often feel impossible to overcome.
“If someone is seen to have dishonoured or brought shame on a family or community, they can be ‘punished’ through threatening behaviour, rape, kidnap, false imprisonment, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and even murder – also known as honour killings.”
The husband Mohammed-Shuaib Arshid was jailed for 11 years; father Arshid Sadiq to seven years; mother Nabila Shaheen to four years; the siblings Aqeel and Zaib to 21 months each.
Leave a Reply