Wow!

This articles goes into more detail:

Naseebah Bibi 'forced daughters-in-law to work as slaves'

Russell Jenkins

A mother-in-law kept her sons’ wives imprisoned for up to 13 years, forcing them to work as slaves, a jury at Preston Crown Court was told today.

Naseebah Bibi, 63, treated the three women, who came to this country from Pakistan for arranged marriages, like "dogs", forcing them to cook, clean and work on a sewing machine.

She ruled the household in Blackburn, Lancashire, by fear with a regime of beatings and threats. If the women complained they were hit or slapped in the face.

After they arrived in Britain, Mrs Bibi, a mother of five, kept them prisoners in the terraced house and ordered them to work from early in the morning until late at night. They were not allowed any contact with their families or the outside world and were allowed to leave the house only if Mrs Bibi gave them permission.

Their ordeal came to an end when one of the wives was abandoned in Pakistan and a second fled from the house.

Philip Boyd, opening for the prosecution, said: “They were treated like children, slaves or dogs by a regime of threats of force or actual force. They would not dare leave until they were broken, when each of them made a dash for safety."

Outlining what he described as abuse and exploitation by their mother-in-law, Mr Boyd insisted that the case had nothing to do with a clash of cultures or arranged marriages. It was about breaking the law.

Mrs Bibi denies three counts of false imprisonment of the women between 1993 and 2006. Also in the dock is her son Nadeem Akhtar, 31, who denies falsely imprisoning his wife, Nizbah, and assault.

Mr Boyd said that each of the women had flown to Britain in the expectation of a better life but found themselves deliberately and cruelly abused by the people who were supposedly close to them.

The first woman, Tazeem Akhtar, was married to Mrs Bibi’s son, Nahim, in Pakistan but did not travel to Britain for some years until her visa documents were processed in 2001.

She came expecting to live with her husband and start a family but her dream was doomed from the start. Nahim already had a wife, a white woman, and had no intention of living with Tazeem.

Mr Boyd said: “She was simply treated like a slave. She was ignored by her husband and abused and exploited by her mother-in-law.

“Her daily routine was gruelling. She would get up at six o’clock in the morning and was ordered to do all the housework, to clean the floors and windows. She even had to do the washing in cold water even though there was a washing machine."

When she tried to used the washing machine she was beaten by Mrs Bibi.

“She was entirely in the control of Naseebah Bibi,” Mr Boyd said. “She had anticipated getting a job and learning English but she had none of this.

“Her imprisonment was complete because she was illiterate, she did not speak English. Mrs Bibi kept her passport and documents. She was told she was not allowed to leave the house and that if she did she would be beaten."

The jury was told that Tazeem was constantly warned that she would be sent back to Pakistan if she was disobedient. Her ordeal came to an end after 18 months when Mrs Bibi took her to Pakistan and left her there.

Nagina Akhtar, who married Fahim, another of Mrs Bibi’s sons, in 1993, had three children by her husband but was forced to spend much of the day at the sewing machine.

Mr Boyd said: “As soon as she came to this country, she was ordered by Mrs Bibi to spend the day sewing on an industrial sewing machine. She sewed all day, every day. She sewed for money but she did not see any of that money.

“She was not allowed to leave the house. Mrs Bibi often said daughters-in-law should remain in the four walls of the house."

Once, she was punched in the face by a family member for leaving the house. If she did it again her legs would be broken, she was told.

Her plight came to light when her son, Umar, told nursery staff that he had seen his grandmother beat his mother. Nagina later said that she had been imprisoned for 13 years.

After Nizbah arrived in Britain in December 2005 she found herself shunned by her husband and abused in the same way as her sisters-in-law, the court was told. She was totally dominated by her mother-in-law.

Once her husband walked in on an argument between his wife and mother. He is alleged to have thrown her on to a sofa and punched her in the face.

She was locked in her room and not given anything to eat for two days but eventually managed to escape by pretending to go to the lavatory. The court heard she did not know where to go because she had never been out of the house.

The trial, which is expected to last eight days, continues.

Timesonline

I cannot comprehend how human beings can sleep at night, knowing that they have mistreated and abused another person. Have they no conscience?

wednesday wrote:

Do you think that this kind of stuff happens more frequent if the marriage is within the family or the outside family marriages? Or is it all down to the fitrah of the family?

I would think it would be less if its in the family, because they'd already know the people, and they'd have some feelings for them. For this woman it was her own nieces, she must be totally EVIL!!!

What dyu mean 'fitrah of the family' ?
Fitrah means natural state, does it not?

You wrote:

yeah, nature.

Anyone is capable of evil IMO, question is if you allow yourself to do it or not, and for most, the mere thought of it is enough to put them off. For others, not so much.

As for how they sleep at night, it would be by either not thinking about it at all or through delusions - "I am actually giving that person a better life, enriching it, not making it worse. If I was not doing this, just think how much worse the person would have it. I am a good Samaritan. I should be applauded for my good nature"

so if people were to live TOTALLY naturally they would be evil? I'm not getting this concept. Yes, we are capable of evil, but it is not in our nature to commit evil... i dunno.

this doesn't surprise me.

at least they are free now and iA they will have a better life.

they were mentioned in the times article. one already had a wife from the uk. they definitely had a part to play in it all. they could have easily put an end to all this but chose not too.

they obviously don't know what marriage is about. they deserve shit.

the evil mother in law and the husbands.

do the women have any other family in the uk? the kids will most likely live with their mothers either here or back in pakistan. it will be hard for them if they have no other family here.

You wrote:

As for how they sleep at night, it would be by either not thinking about it at all or through delusions - "I am actually giving that person a better life, enriching it, not making it worse. If I was not doing this, just think how much worse the person would have it. I am a good Samaritan. I should be applauded for my good nature"

Its probably also a matter of thinking that you can get away with it. Some are able to absolve themselves of accountability for their actions due to their position. As a person of power and authority in her household, the lack of accountability meant that she felt and was able to abuse these women to the extent that she did. We don’t have a shortage of people, but a shortage of goldly people who recognise the position of God and their accountability to Him.

Wait... I haven't read the story or any of the posts, but judging by the title is it something to do with Pakistan?

it's about pakistanis.

although this is shocking because of the physical beatings, i think it more common than many asians like to admit to. It's a taboo subject to speak about, many asians are in denial about this sort of thing going on in modern times but it does go on.

One of my mates had a quite liberal upbringing, but she married into a traditional family, with a mix of modern outlook too confusing? Well they parade themselves as loving the western lifestyle, yet behind closed doors they are actually very traditional. Nowt wrong with it, except they retain the bad aspects of tradition/culure.

So my friend found she is not allowed out of the house alone. Even when she had to visit midwife because she was pregnant for the very first time, her mother in law went with her, and even went into consultation room? I did tell her to speak up, but she doesn't feel like she can say no.

She can't go for a walk with her baby alone, corner shop, nothing. Mil says DIL should not go anywhere alone. This is the mentality from back home.

My sis had similar problems. more late gotta run

thats pakis for you!

Hajjar wrote:

although this is shocking because of the physical beatings, i think it more common than many asians like to admit to. It's a taboo subject to speak about, many asians are in denial about this sort of thing going on in modern times but it does go on.

You wrote:

Hajjar wrote:

although this is shocking because of the physical beatings, i think it more common than many asians like to admit to. It's a taboo subject to speak about, many asians are in denial about this sort of thing going on in modern times but it does go on.

Agreed.

Abuse in the home is a sobering and depressing fact. But this exists in families up and down England, no matter what religion, ethnicity or other social group you may belong to. These abusers bend their religion or culture to accommodate for their evil conduct and crimes. It may be present in Pakistani circles, but I very much doubt that it is restricted or more prevalent in this community. There is a programme on BBC3 about mother-in-laws from Hell (not the most reliable source, but nevertheless, insightful!). It relates stories of women (not Pakistani) who suffer abuse at all levels from their mothers-in-laws. So why should I believe that there are more awful and abusive mothers-in-laws from Pakistani descent? We have no way of knowing this for certainty, and I think it would be wrong to think/believe/suggest it. This is also discriminatory.

The fact is that there is a sizeable Pakistani community in the UK, and therefore these sorts of abuses are more easily highlighted. I am certain that many other ethnic communities in the UK have similar problems, yet the figures are smaller in proportion to their population in the UK.

The fact that it was a Pakistani woman simply means that this community needs to clean up their act and their back yard. But it doesnt mean that it is due to her Pakistani descent or that it is more prevalent in this community.

This story also perfectly fits into the narrative that media constructs around Muslim women/Asian women (oppressed and subjucated, in need of rescue and freedom from the shackle that they find themselves in). Muslim women abused or forced into marriage, muslim women subjected to beatings etc. The media would have had an amazing field day if the abuser was a man. I am sure such abuses have occurred in other communities, yet has not been highlighted becuase they did not tick the "women" and "muslim" boxes.