A Muslim teenager in England was kidnapped, beaten and threatened with hammers and knives by her brother and sisters after kissing a white man, a court heard yesterday.
Shamima Akhtar, 18, was bundled into a car, called a whore and a prostitute and had her waist-length hair cut to her neck by her two older sisters, Nadiya, 25, and Nazira, 29, and brother Kayum Mohammed-Abdul, 24.
They had “screeched” in the car park of a restaurant in Basingstoke, Hampshire, when they saw her kissing Gary Pain on April 1 last year as she celebrated her 18th birthday, Winchester Crown Court was told.
An “extremely aggressive and threatening” Mohammed-Abdul grabbed Mr Pain by the throat as Miss Akhtar was “firmly escorted” to the car and thrown in, Peter Asteris, prosecuting, told the jury.
The case centred on “honour-based domestic violence”, the court heard, in which Miss Akhtar was punished for breaking her family’s rules.
Miss Akhtar came from a strict Islamic family and was controlled by her siblings, but she considered herself Westernised, the court heard. All three defendants deny kidnap, actual bodily harm and false imprisonment. […]
The trial is expected to last six days.
Our View
So-called ‘honor’ or ‘honour’ crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Religious teachings and faith-based morals do not trump human rights — and an individual’s interpretation of his religion does not excuse barbaric behavior toward another person.
Extremist Muslims must be made aware of the fact that civilized societies do not let such hate crimes go unpunished.