Sabia Rani was 19 when she died at the house in Oakwood Grange, Oakwood, Leeds, in May 2006, within months of arriving from a rural village in Pakistan.

By then she had been subjected to weeks of physical abuse by her husband Shazad Khan, until her body could take no more, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Simon Myerson QC, prosecuting, said injuries found after her death included 10 broken ribs of varying ages and bruising to more than 85 per cent of her body which a pathologist described as the kind of trauma found in victims of catastrophic road accidents.

Khan was convicted by a jury last year of murdering his young wife and Mr Myerson told the jury members of his family who stood by and did nothing to help Sabia Rani now faced trial themselves because they must have known of her suffering and failed to help her.

Khan's mother, Phullan Bibi, 52, sister Uzma Naureen Khan, 23, another sister Nazia Naureen, 28 and her husband Majid Hussain, 28, each deny allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

Uzma Khan and Majid Hussain also deny perjury while giving evidence in Khan's defence at his trial last year.

Mr Myerson told the jury that Uzma Khan said in her evidence that her sister-in-law had never complained to her about being in pain and blamed her injuries on an evil spirit.

He added: "We say the evil spirit who beat Sabia Rani was Shazad Khan and Uzma Khan knew that perfectly well." She and Majid had given false evidence to try and help Khan get acquitted.

Mr Myerson said Sabia Rani was vulnerable because she spoke limited English, was unsophisticated, had been in the country only since January and had little contact with anyone outside Khan's family.

She had married her cousin Shazad in December 2002, but it was only in January 2006 she had joined him at the family home in Leeds.

On May 21 an ambulance was called to the house after members of the family said they found her fully clothed but dead in the bath.

Mr Myerson said her death was put down to multiple injuries causing her bodily system to break down. He suggested she would have been in severe pain for some weeks from her injuries prior to those inflicted in the final attack the night before her death, but was never taken to see a doctor.

"The evidence is in the three weeks before her death it would have been apparent to anyone who saw her regularly that this girl was ill and in pain."

He said the family members might not have realised she was going to die, or the scale of her injuries, but it must have been apparent to them that if she did not get treatment she would not get better and continued to be at risk from her husband.

The broken ribs were consistent with kicks, stamps or hard punches and would have left her in severe pain, but the only medication she appeared to have taken was paracetamol and codeine.

Mr Myerson said because of the extensive bruising and tissue breakdown in her body she should have been receiving treatment in intensive care.

"There must have come a time when each defendant knew that Sabia Rani was ill and in pain. There must have come a time when they knew or suspected Shazad Khan was the cause of her illness and pain. They must have known what was happening was unlawful and carried a risk of further harm to her."

He said the prosecution would call medical evidence to show Sabia was likely to have only limited movement and able to crawl a short distance after the final violence was inflicted to her. It was likely she was killed downstairs and would have been carried up by Shazad Khan and placed in the bath probably after her clothes were changed.

The trial continues.