|
'Abused' teen was murdered
11/01/2008 15:48 - (SA)
London - A British teenager who feared her parents would force her into an arranged marriage and claimed to be the victim of domestic abuse was murdered, a coroner said Friday.
Coroner Ian Smith, speaking at the conclusion of an inquest, ruled that 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed, whose body was found beside a river almost four years ago, had been unlawfully killed.
"She was murdered," Smith said. "I'm convinced of that because of the way in which the body was disposed, it had been hidden and she had been taken many miles away from home."
Police began a murder investigation after Ahmed's body was found, but no one has been charged. Cheshire Police said Friday that the investigation remained active.
In Britain, a coroner's inquest is held to determine the cause of death when someone dies unexpectedly, violently or of unknown causes. The inquest was opened in 2004, but adjourned to allow the police to investigate.
Ahmed vanished in September 2003 shortly after returning home from a family trip to Pakistan, where she was introduced to a suitor and subsequently hospitalised after drinking bleach.
In February 2004, the student's decomposed body was found in undergrowth near a river in Sedgwick, about 420km northwest of London.
A pathologist, Dr Alison Armour, told the inquest in Kendal, northwest England, that Ahmed likely had died from smothering or strangulation.
The inquest heard from friends and teachers who said Ahmed claimed to have been beaten by her parents. They also said she feared being forced to marry against her will in Pakistan, her parents' homeland.
Ahmed's parents, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping before their daughter's body was discovered, but released without charge. They say they had nothing to do with her death.
- AP
|
News
