Muslim parents re-arrested over suspected honour killing of daughter

Parents of a Muslim teenager, whose dismembered body was found on a riverbank nearly seven years ago, have been re-arrested on 1 September 2010 after new allegations by the dead girl's younger sister.

Shafilea Ahmed, 17, went missing from her home in Warrington, Cheshire in September 2003 and her decomposed body was found five months later by the River Kent in Cumbria. The coroner concluded that Shafilea had suffered a “vile murder” and that her refusal to have an arranged marriage was a major factor in the cause of her death.

The decision was made to re-arrest the couple after new claims were made by Shafilea’s younger sister, Alisha, about their involvement in the death of their daughter. Police had previously arrested the couple in 2003 on suspicion of kidnapping, but it was later concluded that there was insufficient evidence.

Shafilea was born in Bradford and had hopes of becoming a solicitor. She spoke Urdu and recited Muslim prayers with her siblings, but at the same time admired R&B singers and secretly had the mobile numbers of male friends stored on her phone. She wrote songs to express her emotions about the conflict she felt between her Muslim background and the Western culture she wanted to adopt.

It is reported that a few months before Shafilea went missing she refused to take part in an arranged marriage, and that during a visit to Pakistan to meet a prospective husband she drank bleach as a possible suicide attempt. However, her father later claimed that she had accidently swallowed the bleach during a power cut thinking it was fruit juice.

Mr and Mrs Ahmed have repeatedly denied any involvement in their daughter’s death.

Sources

Daily Telegraph
Guardian
BBC News
Daily Mail