Afshan Azad
Photo: London Muslims
Sister fails to show up for trial and pleads for leniency in the United Kingdom Manchester court.
By H. Nelson Goodson
January 21, 2011
Longsight, Manchester, U.K. - The brother of an actress in the Harry Potter movie saga has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading gulity of beating his sister Afshan Azad, 21. Afshan, who appeared in four of the Potter's movies plays the role of Padma Patil in the saga. She was beaten by her brother Ashraf Azad, 28, on May 21, 2010 after he suspected that she was talking to her Hindu boyfriend.
Her father Abdul Azad, 54, was also charged in the incident and has since made a plea deal and was fined and must stay out of trouble for 12 months, according to court records.
Ashraf pleaded guilty to assaulting Afshan, a lesser charge in a plea deal after Afshan failed to testify or appear in court. In the plea agreement, charges of making threats to kill Afshan were dismissed against her brother and father.
Ashraf admitted to punching her, to almost strangling her and had dragged his sister around the a room for dating a non Muslim, according to the criminal complaint. His sister told police that Ashraf had threaten to kill her and her father threaten to take her to Bangladesh for an arranged marriage, but she managed to escape through a window from the family residence at Longsight, Manchester.
She pleaded for leniency for her brother, but Manchester Crown Court Judge Rodger Thomas gave Ashraf six months in jail for the three hour beating his sister endured.
The Penarth Times in the U.K. reported that Judge Thomas during the sentencing told Ashraf, "This persistent attack was accompanied by serious and very hurtful abuse and threats. It must have been a miserable and frightening experience for your sister which, she suggested, lasted for about three hours or so... The background to this offence lies in the concern that you, and perhaps other family members, had about Afshan's relationship with a young man who was not of the Islamic faith...
This is a sentence that is designed to punish you for what you did and also to send out a clear message to others that domestic violence involving circumstances such as have arisen here cannot be tolerated."
The court also heard that both Afshan parents, father Abdul and mother Nilofar Azad were involved and had branded her a "slag" and a "prostitute" and had said, "Marry a Muslim or you die," according to the Penarth Times. Such threats in some cases turn into Honour killings accepted by backward traditional beliefs, which violate the equal rights of women to make their own decisions in choosing a boyfriend or husband. The honour killings are condemn and penalized by civilized judicial courts throughout the world, except in remote areas in countries where Islamic beliefs prevail. The lack of justice and prosecution of honour killings by Islamic governments have led to thousands of Muslim women to be killed by family members or spouses. Honour killings have been on the rise in Europe and the U.S.
Since the beating ordeal, Afshan has moved to London and continues to date her Hindu boyfriend.
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
Photo: London Muslims
Sister fails to show up for trial and pleads for leniency in the United Kingdom Manchester court.
By H. Nelson Goodson
January 21, 2011
Longsight, Manchester, U.K. - The brother of an actress in the Harry Potter movie saga has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading gulity of beating his sister Afshan Azad, 21. Afshan, who appeared in four of the Potter's movies plays the role of Padma Patil in the saga. She was beaten by her brother Ashraf Azad, 28, on May 21, 2010 after he suspected that she was talking to her Hindu boyfriend.
Her father Abdul Azad, 54, was also charged in the incident and has since made a plea deal and was fined and must stay out of trouble for 12 months, according to court records.
Ashraf pleaded guilty to assaulting Afshan, a lesser charge in a plea deal after Afshan failed to testify or appear in court. In the plea agreement, charges of making threats to kill Afshan were dismissed against her brother and father.
Ashraf admitted to punching her, to almost strangling her and had dragged his sister around the a room for dating a non Muslim, according to the criminal complaint. His sister told police that Ashraf had threaten to kill her and her father threaten to take her to Bangladesh for an arranged marriage, but she managed to escape through a window from the family residence at Longsight, Manchester.
She pleaded for leniency for her brother, but Manchester Crown Court Judge Rodger Thomas gave Ashraf six months in jail for the three hour beating his sister endured.
The Penarth Times in the U.K. reported that Judge Thomas during the sentencing told Ashraf, "This persistent attack was accompanied by serious and very hurtful abuse and threats. It must have been a miserable and frightening experience for your sister which, she suggested, lasted for about three hours or so... The background to this offence lies in the concern that you, and perhaps other family members, had about Afshan's relationship with a young man who was not of the Islamic faith...
This is a sentence that is designed to punish you for what you did and also to send out a clear message to others that domestic violence involving circumstances such as have arisen here cannot be tolerated."
The court also heard that both Afshan parents, father Abdul and mother Nilofar Azad were involved and had branded her a "slag" and a "prostitute" and had said, "Marry a Muslim or you die," according to the Penarth Times. Such threats in some cases turn into Honour killings accepted by backward traditional beliefs, which violate the equal rights of women to make their own decisions in choosing a boyfriend or husband. The honour killings are condemn and penalized by civilized judicial courts throughout the world, except in remote areas in countries where Islamic beliefs prevail. The lack of justice and prosecution of honour killings by Islamic governments have led to thousands of Muslim women to be killed by family members or spouses. Honour killings have been on the rise in Europe and the U.S.
Since the beating ordeal, Afshan has moved to London and continues to date her Hindu boyfriend.
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
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