Chores claimof womanin arrangedmarriage

Fiona Evans

A WOMAN fled an arranged marriage after she was made to do all the household chores for her husband’s family, a court heard.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that Naila Yasmeen married Halifax man Fasel Qadir in Pakistan in 2007, but it was almost another two years before she came to join him in the UK.

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Clodagh Maguire, prosecuting, said Qadir’s wife alleged that ever since arriving at the family home she had been forced to do all the household chores for the entire family including cooking meals, cleaning, washing and ironing.

She said the complainant also alleged that she was not allowed to wear her own good quality clothes and forced to wear clothes belonging to her sister-in-law.

The claims, which are disputed by Qadir, came to light yesterday as he was made the subject of a 12-month community order after he admitted a charge of affray on a limited basis.

Qadir, 25, accepted throwing some books belonging to his wife on the floor and picking up a knife during an incident in the house. The court heard that Qadir also accepted using threatening and abusive language during the incident last year.

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Miss Maguire said his wife finally fled the marital home in October and reported the matters to the police.

When Qadir was arrested in November he denied that his wife had been living in the way she described throughout their marriage, but he accepted that they had been arguing about two or three times a week.

Miss Maguire said Qadir told the police that he had handed his wife’s documents to the immigration authorities and had made it clear that he no longer wanted to sponsor her to stay in England as his spouse.

Qadir, of Gibraltar Road, Pellon, Halifax, was ordered to do 60 hours unpaid work as part of the community order and he will also be supervised for a year.

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