Visa worry disclosed at rape trial

A woman who tried to get her violent husband deported was repeatedly raped by him during their arranged marriage, a court heard.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, contacted the Home Office in late 2007 complaining that her husband had subjected her to violence and abuse after he arrived in the United Kingdom from Pakistan.

In her letter, the Bradford woman asked for her husband, who had left home at the time, to be deported so that she could "carry on her life without fear".

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But prosecutor Richard Gioserano said the Home Office decided not to deport the husband and he got back in touch with his wife a few months later.

Mr Gioserano pointed out that by that stage in early 2008 the husband would have known that his wife's parents had helped her to buy a house of her own and that he was approaching the end of his two-year visa and needed his wife so he could apply for leave to remain in this country.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that the couple began living as husband and wife again but the complainant alleged that her husband carried on hitting her.

The 27-year-old defendant, who also cannot be identified to protect his wife's anonymity, went on trial yesterday accused of three sample charges of rape.

The trial continues.