Devout Muslim attacked daughter after he caught her having sex
THE daughter of a strict Muslim man was put into police protection because he attacked her after walking in on her having sex with her boyfriend, a court heard.
Soruth Ali, 42, hit his daughter Fatima’s boyfriend, James Martin, over the head with a hammer, before chasing him out of the home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.
He then punched and kicked his daughter and dragged her out of her bedroom by the hair. Mr Martin suffered a gash to his head, which required stapling, while Fatima suffered bruising to her face and head.
The teenager was moved to a secret address, where she was put under police protection before being placed in care.
In a statement to police, Fatima said her father was “very religious and very controlling” and would not let her out of the house unless she wore an Islamic veil. She said she had been forced to live “two lives” as she was made to wear a headscarf in front of her father – only to secretly take it off once she was out of his sight. She said she wanted to “live her own life”.
Despite the assault on August 21, Ali was said by probation officers to have shown a “lack of remorse and empathy” for his daughter and Mr Martin and attempted to “justify” his actions.
The court heard that Mr Martin had been hiding in his girlfriend’s bedroom after Ali and his wife came back unexpectedly early from a trip away. He was discovered after Ali woke at 5am to noises coming from her room.
In her statement, detailed at an earlier hearing, Fatima said her father hit her on the left arm and knocked her to the floor. She said he then began to kick her head and legs and she curled up in a ball. She said that she was so scared she wet herself.
Peter Gilmore, prosecuting, said: “Fatima and Mr Martin both called the police, as did a neighbour, and Ali was arrested. His daughter was a particularly vulnerable young woman, as she was his 17-year-old daughter living in his house. It is clear in his probation report that he was trying to minimise these offences.”
At Bolton Crown Court, Ali admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault and was jailed for 14 months. The court heard he had a previous rape conviction from 1995, for which he served seven years in jail, after he attacked a 15-year-old girl when she was in school uniform.
In mitigation, his lawyer Isobel Thomas said: “He is not trying to minimise his actions. It was claimed he lacks remorse for his victims and empathy for his daughter but he tells me this is not the case.
“He just finds it difficult to effectively show his emotions.”