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Shafilea Ahmed, the British Muslim teenager who was killed after refusing an arranged marriage, told a government official that she was beaten and ripped off by her parents. An inquest into her death has heard that she applied for council housing in order to escape the family home.
Shafilea Ahmed, 17, said one parent would hold her down while the other hit her. She said they also took £2,000 savings from her bank account.
Eventually, she ran away from home, telling a housing officer that she was fleeing the escalating domestic violence and plans to force her into an arranged marriage.
The inquest heard a statement written by Miss Ahmed as she set out her housing application. She wrote: "Over the past few years I've been experiencing domestic violence by my parents. I had saved £2,000 which they took out of my bank account.
She also wrote that her parents planned to send her to Pakistan to get married against her will. On a family trip to Pakistan shortly before she disappeared in September 2003, she drank bleach rather than go through with the wedding. Her decomposed body was found beside a river in Cumbria in February 2004.
Her father Iftikhar Ahmed vehemently denied any plans to force her into marriage.
Mr Ahmed admitted that before leaving for Pakistan his uncle had asked if Miss Ahmed would marry his son, Rafaqat.
But he claimed that when the same question was put to his daughter when they arrived, he accepted her "no way" answer.
Taxi driver, Mr Ahmed, added: "I always ask to my kids: 'Whatever you decide to do with your lives I'm fully behind you'."
Asked why his daughter would tell such outrageous lies to a public official, he said he had no idea.
In an odd development, it has emerged that Iftikhar Ahmed was already married when he married Shafilea’s mother.
Previous related post: Inquest into death of Muslim girl who refused arranged marriage
