STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Shafilea Ahmed's father says he's "devastated" to be accused of killing the 17-year-old
- Shafilea's mom hastily says she noticed her husband assault the girl
- Shafilea's sister testified final month that she noticed her folks stuff a plastic bag into her mouth
- The United International locations estimates there may well be 5,000 honor murders according to 12 months worldwide
London (CNN) -- A PERSON accused of killing his teenage daughter in England as a result of her "Westernized" way of life denied the homicide in court docket Wednesday.
Iftikhar Ahmed mentioned it was "devastating" to be on trial for murdering his daughter Shafilea, CNN associate ITV reported.
He was taking the stand for the primary time in a case which has gripped Britain for the reason that 17-year-old disappeared in September 2003.
The court docket case took a startling flip Monday whilst Iftikhar's spouse Farzana rapidly modified her long-standing tale and stated she had observed her husband assault their daughter at the night time Shafilea died.
Both folks are accused of the homicide. Certainly one of Shafilea's sisters testified that she noticed her oldsters push Shafilea onto a couch, stuff a bag into her mouth, and cling her down until she suffocated.
Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed have each pleaded now not accountable at their trial in Chester, England.
Newspapers, tv and radio have all been reporting at the prosecution case that Shafilea's folks killed her as a result of they felt her "Western" way of life introduced disgrace at the family.
The teenager's dismembered frame was discovered on a riverbank months after she disappeared. She have been stripped of the rest that will determine her, prosecutor Andrew Edis informed the jury in May, in keeping with ITV.
Shafilea's sister Alesha testified ultimate month that she noticed her oldsters kill the girl.
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She mentioned her folks have been indignant that Shafilea was dressed in a short-sleeved, V-neck top, and no sweater, at the evening she was killed.
"Just finish it here," Farzana mentioned to Iftikhar, in step with their daughter.
They driven Shafilea down onto a settee and suffocated her regardless of her struggles, Alesha testified.
Prosecutor Edis referred to as it "an act of suffocation by each oldsters appearing together."
Alesha Ahmed didn't inform police she had observed the killing until 2010, after she was detained by police in reference to a theft of the family's home, ITV reported.
She has pleaded accountable to theft. Prosecutors stated she had now not been presented any form of deal in alternate for attesting towards her parents.
She has testified that each her oldsters bodily abused Shafilea "on a daily basis" over the process 5 years, and that her mom did it extra "as a result of she was at house more."
On Monday, Farzana rapidly stated she had noticed her husband assault Shafilea. She mentioned that she attempted to interfere to give protection to the girl, however that her husband driven her away and punched her, ITV reported.
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"Extremely scared," she fled the room and stayed in a bed room with different youngsters until she heard a automobile leaving 20 mins later.
When her husband back alone, she requested the place their daughter was.
"If you take care of your expensive lifestyles and that of your children, do not ever inquire from me this question again," he informed her, ITV reported.
Farzana Ahmed testified Monday that just one in their children, Mevish, was provide while she noticed her husband attacking Shafilea.
The jury was informed that Shafilea have been taken to Pakistan for a impulsively organized marriage prior to her death, and drank bleach whilst her folks urged she was staying there whilst the remainder of the circle of relatives again to England, ITV reported.
She was hospitalized for 3 months after the circle of relatives got here house due to the bleach incident, Alesha testified.
Alesha testified in Would possibly that her folks had been very strict with their daughters, ITV reported.
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"Our circle of relatives was very limited. It was very other. The Pakistani tradition is extra restrictive in relation to what you'll be able to put on or do," she said.
The trial started in Might and is anticipated to ultimate a couple of extra weeks, prosecutors say.
Reliable figures of the choice of honor murders world wide are arduous to return by, however the United International locations Inhabitants Fund has expected there might be 5,000 in step with year.
So-called honor murders are a vital sufficient drawback in Britain that the country's Crown Prosecution Carrier has knowledgeable focusing on instances during which participants of a circle of relatives kill family on account of habits that they are saying shames the family.
The CPS started preserving data on honor violence in April 2010 and prosecuted 234 instances within the following year, simply over half that have been successful.
There is a belief that the crime is especially commonplace amongst Muslims, however one vocal British campaigner says no longer all honor violence is perpetrated by Muslims.
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Jasvinder Sanghera, who was the sufferer of a compelled marriage, isn't Muslim; she is Sikh.
"Significant circumstances are taking place inside of South Asian communities, be it Pakistani, Indian, Sikh, Muslim, Kurdish, Iranian, Center Jap communities," she said.
The killings happen in lots of portions of the world, professionals say.
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"It's surely an issue that occurs in lots of other puts: the center East, Pakistan, Bangladesh and amongst immigrant groups in North America," stated Nadya Khalife, a researcher on women's rights within the Arab international for Human Rights Watch.
Several Arab international locations and territories, together with Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian territories, have rules offering lesser sentences for honor murders than for different murders, Human Rights Watch says.
Egypt and Jordan even have regulations which have been interpreted to permit decreased sentences for honor crimes, the crowd says.
CNN's Atika Shubert contributed to this report.
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