Shafilea mother tells of husband’s violence
A MOTHER accused of suffocating her daughter for defying her parents’ strict Pakistani culture yesterday denied playing any part in killing her.
However Shafilea Ahmed’s mother Farzana said her husband Iftikhar – who allegedly held a plastic bag in the 17-year-old’s mouth until she stopped breathing – had been violent towards their daughter in the past.
Mrs Ahmed, 49, who is accused of starting the murderous attack with the words ‘Just finish it here’, said he had slapped Shafilea twice for refusing to name a boy who had rung her mobile. She also claimed Shafilea had been worried about being pressured into an arranged marriage before a family trip to Pakistan, but insisted there had been no such plan.
Yesterday the couple’s murder trial at Chester Crown Court heard for the first time from Mrs Ahmed, who spoke in Punjabi through an interpreter.
She has always denied murder, but earlier this month the jury heard she had changed her account of the evening in question. She now says she witnessed her 52-year- old husband hitting Shafilea that night, although she did not see the killing.
She also claimed he had threatened to attack her and their other children if she ever asked him what had happened to Shafilea.
The jury heard she had undergone an arranged marriage to Iftikhar, her first cousin, in Pakistan, before settling in Britain. She said they first became aware that Shafilea was secretly meeting boys when she was 16 in November 2002.
She and her husband challenged Shafilea over the identity of ‘a male’ who repeatedly rang her mobile phone, but she would not tell them. Asked how her husband responded, she answered: ‘He slapped her twice.’ The case continues.