Don’t you mess with our blood
What Bengali boy, 16, was told as he was given ‘honour’ beating for dating Pakistani schoolgirl
A SCHOOLBOY from a Bengali background was told ‘don’t mess with our blood’ and subjected to a savage ‘honour’ beating after going out with a girl from a Pakistani family.
The 16-year-old was taken prisoner and driven to a cul-de-sac where he was repeatedly kicked about the head, apparently battered with weapons and told: ‘Find your own kind.’
Onlookers – thought to include women – were heard shouting: ‘Kill him, kick him in the head, finish him off.’
The beating began after the attackers, who included the girl’s father and brother, seized the boy’s mobile phone and searched it for evidence he had been dating the girl – a pupil at the same school – and found pictures of them together.
The boy was later treated in hospital for injuries similar to those administered
‘The boy’s ethnicity is the motive’
by a knuckleduster. Details emerged at Preston Crown Court where the girl’s father, Mirza Baig, 48, from Preston, her brother, Khizum Baig, 29, her cousin Saqib Mirza Baig, 29, and her uncle Ghazanfar Mirza, 37, all from Blackburn, each admitted affray.
Ghazanfar Mirza, a father-of-seven, also admitted false imprisonment, while Saqib Mirza Baig, a college student, admitted causing grievous bodily harm, and Khizum Baig, a trainee accountant, admitted assault by beating.
The court heard the boy – who is not being named – had been targeted after he dated a 16-year-old girl from the Pakistani community in Blackburn. They would meet secretly once a week.
On March 7 last year they were spotted together by Ghazanfar Mirza. He asked the girl to get in his car and drove off. He returned – without her – and asked the boy to get in the car. Nicholas Flanagan, prosecuting, said: ‘Once they were in the car Ghazanfar locked the doors and sped off.
‘During the journey Ghazanfar was ringing the other defendants asking them for weapons. He drove to a close where he and Saqib Baig live. Mirza Baig and Khizum Baig arrived after.
‘Saqib leant through the open window and punched the boy to the face. Mirza Baig then arrived and punched the boy in the nose.
‘There were comments of “finish him, kill him”. Saqib then dragged the boy out of the car and grabbed him by the neck and threw him on the floor. Again shouts of “kill him, kick him in the head, finish him off” were heard.
‘He was repeatedly kicked to the head and body. He tried to protect himself but was unable to get up.’ The boy was eventually bundled back into the car and dumped outside a barber’s shop.
Mr Flanagan added: ‘The ethnicity of the boy is the background motive for the attack. Comments were made saying “don’t mess with our blood” and “find your own kind”. There are honour overtones to this incident.’
The victim suffered bruising and cuts to his ear, face, lip, and body, plus three large cuts to his head. In a statement the boy said: ‘I’ve lost my independence and I’m scared to leave home by myself.’
The attackers’ barristers denied honour or race was a motive and said they were acting out of concern for the girl, with one saying the victim had ‘disrespected’ her.
The four men were remanded in custody and could be jailed when sentenced next week.