Woman jailed for forcing daughter to marry man in Pakistan

A mother who forced her teenage daughter to marry an older man in Pakistan has been jailed for four and a half years.

In a legal first in England and Wales, the woman, who cannot be identified, was convicted of practising to deceive the victim.

The victim was 17 when she was duped into travelling to Pakistan for what she believed was a family holiday.

But after the family arrived, she was married to a 33-year-old male relative.

Years earlier, when the girl was just 13, the same man took her virginity after they were entered into a ‘marriage contract’, and she became pregnant.

She had to have an abortion when she returned to the UK, leading to her GP reporting concerns to social services.

The mother was found guilty of deceiving the victim to go to Pakistan in order to enter into a false marriage, forced marriage and perjury, following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

Following the conviction, Elaine Radway, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 

‘Forcing someone into marriage against their wishes is a criminal offence, and a breach of their human rights.