A husband and his four relatives used his wife as a house slave during 18 months of “honour-based” abuse, a court heard.
The victim was threatened with death and made to drink engine oil by the family.
Mohammed-Shuaib Arshid, 28, came to the UK with his new wife after entering into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
They moved into a house in Hillingdon, west London, shared with his father Arshid Sadiq, 54, mother Nabila Shaheen, 56, brother Aqeel Arshid, 32, and sister Zaib Arshid, 27.
Coercive behaviour
Arshid’s relatives all subjected his wife to coercive behaviour including stopping her from calling her family and friends on her mobile phone without permission.
She was stopped from leaving the house on her own and had no access to her personal identity documents.
The woman could not attend college and had no access to cash so she had to beg her husband for money for basic toiletries.
The victim was also forced to cook and clean throughout the day before she could go to bed.
Convictions
She was mentally and physically abused by all five members of the family, causing long-term psychological harm.
While on bail, Mohammed Shuaib-Arshid committed a further offence of false imprisonment against another relative and was jailed for eight years.
The five members of the family were each convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship and holding a person in slavery or servitude.
The abuse went on between October 2017 and April 2019 at the shared family home.
Mohammed-Shuaib Arshid was jailed for 11 years; Arshid Sadiq to seven years; Nabila Shaheen to four years; Aqeel and Zaib to 21 months each.
All five family members were also made subject to an indefinite restraining order, preventing any further contact with the victim.
‘Honour-based abuse’
Paul Jenkins, a senior district crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: “The victim believed that they were moving into a safe family home with a loving husband, but the subsequent actions of [the family] proved that this was not the case.
“The victim was subject to regular abuse whilst under their care, resulting in serious physical and psychological harm.”
A CPS spokesman said: “Being the victim of violence or sexual assault is undoubtedly a harrowing experience – but when this abuse is ‘honour-based’, the challenges can often feel impossible to overcome.
“If someone is seen to have dishonoured or brought shame on a family or community, they can be ‘punished’ through threatening behaviour, rape, kidnap, false imprisonment, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and even murder – also known as honour killings.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/12/family-used-wife-house-slave-honour-based-abuse-london/
