Shafilea Ahmed parents charged over suspected ‘honour killing’

Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed will appear in court on Friday, charged with the murder of their daughter The parents of Shafilea Ahmed, the victim of a suspected “honour killing” almost eight years ago, have been charged with murder and appeared before magistrates on Wednesday. Ahmed, 17, disappeared from her home town of Warrington, Cheshire, in September 2003. Her badly decomposed remains were found in February 2004 on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria, following a flood. She was an intelligent young woman who had hoped to study law at university and become a solicitor. Her inquest heard that the most likely cause of death was strangulation or suffocation. Police said Iftikhar Ahmed, 51, a taxi driver, and Farzana Ahmed, 48, a housewife, of Liverpool Road, Warrington, were arrested on suspicion of murder in September 2010. Cheshire police have now charged both with murder following authorisation by the Crown Prosecution Service. The couple made a six-minute appearance at Halton magistrates’ court in Runcorn, Cheshire, on Wednesday afternoon. They were remanded in custody until Friday, when they will appear via videolink at Manchester crown court. They spoke only to confirm through an interpreter their names, ages and address. The murder charge was put to them, but no plea was entered. There were no submissions made by the prosecution or defence solicitors. The court heard that the couple were charged with murdering the teenager on 11 September 2003 in Cheshire. Iftikhar Ahmed, wearing an open-necked white shirt, gave family members a thumbs-up as he was taken down from the dock. His wife, who spoke through an interpreter, was on the verge of tears. During the hearing Mrs Ahmed stood with her head to one side, and wiped her nose. As she left the dock she signalled to members of her family in the public gallery with a raised finger. At the inquest into Shafilea’s death, Ian Smith, the coroner for south and east Cumbria, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. The couple have always strenuously denied any involvement in their daughter’s death and once stormed into a police press conference to tearfully protest their innocence, claiming the police were racially motivated. But at the inquest, evidence was heard that Shafilea claimed she was held down and beaten by her parents and was fearful of an arranged marriage. The coroner ruled that she had been the victim of a “very vile murder”. She disappeared shortly after a trip to Pakistan in which she was introduced to a potential suitor. During the trip, she drank bleach and harmed herself in an apparent cry for help, and needed regular hospital treatment to correct injuries to her throat. The coroner said: “Shafilea was the victim of a very vile murder and there’s no evidence before the court as to who did it. There are things people know that have not been told to this court.” He said Shafilea had not had justice. “Her ambition was to live her own life in her own way: to study, to follow a career in the law and to do what she wanted to do. These are just basic fundamental rights and they were denied to her.” Mrs Ahmed was remanded to Styal prison in Cheshire and her husband was remanded to Liverpool prison. The couple were initially arrested on suspicion of kidnapping their daughter in December 2003 but in June 2004 were released without charge when the Crown Prosecution Service ruled there was insufficient evidence against them. Crime Helen Carter guardian.co.uk

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