Shafilea Iftikhar Ahmed ( Punjabi and ur, ; 14 July 1986 – 11 September 2003) was a British-Pakistani girl who was murdered by her parents in a suspected

honour killing An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...

at the age of 17, due to their belief that she had become too

Westernised Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economi ...

. Ahmed's parents were each subsequently imprisoned for a minimum of 25 years for her murder in August 2012. The possibility of other individuals having helped her parents to dispose of their daughter's body has been raised; after the parents' trial, the chief executive of the Bradford Council for Mosques encouraged anybody with information about the case to come forward with information to assist police.

Background

Shafilea Ahmed was born on 14 July 1986 in

Bradford, West Yorkshire Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 c ...

, the daughter of Pakistani immigrant parents. She had the nickname "Shaf". Her parents, who are of the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

branch of Islam and native Punjabi speakers, originated from the village of Uttam in the

Gujrat District Gujrat ( Punjabi and ur, ), is a district of Punjab Province in Pakistan. It is bounded on the northeast by Mirpur, on the northwest by the River Jhelum, which separates it from Jhelum District, on the east and southeast by the Chenab Ri ...

. The family lived in the

Great Sankey Great Sankey is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is west of Warrington town centre and had a population of 24,211 in 2001 Census.Warrington, Cheshire Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Ahmed attended

Great Sankey High School Great Sankey High School (GSHS) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is a member of the Omega Multi-Academy Trust (OMAT). The school was first built in the 1970s a ...

, its sixth form centre Barrowhall College, and

Priestley College Priestley Sixth Form and Community College is a sixth form college in the Wilderspool district of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It also offers adult courses and professional training on another site, and is an associate college of the Universit ...

from September 2003. She was an

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

student and hoped to become a solicitor. During a trip to Pakistan earlier in 2003, Ahmed had swallowed bleach in what was reported to be a suicide attempt. Her parents claimed this had been a simple mistake and that she had drunk the bleach during a

power cut A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...

because she thought it was mouth wash, a claim prosecutors called "a stupid and obvious lie". Ahmed suffered extensive damage to her throat for which she was having regular ongoing care at the time of her disappearance. According to media reports, she had turned down a suitor in a

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

during this trip, although her parents denied there being any attempts made to pressure her into agreeing to the prospective marriage.

Murder

Ahmed disappeared 11 September 2003, and had been missing for a week before her teachers informed the police. Subsequently, a major campaign urged anyone with information to come forward. Actress

Shobna Gulati Shobna Gulati (born 7 August 1966)www.shobnagulati.co.uk
Shobna Gulati official website is an English ...

fronted the media campaign and read some of her poems on television. A nationwide hunt was launched, but when Ahmed failed to seek treatment for her damaged throat, detectives became convinced she had been murdered in a possible "

" connected to her rejection of her Pakistani suitor. Superintendent Geraint Jones told the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' that "her family say a suitor had been found for her in Pakistan but she was free to make her own decisions". In February 2004, Ahmed's dismembered remains were found after heavy flooding in the

River Kent The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. It originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles (32 km) into the north of Morecambe Bay. The upper reaches and the western bank of the estuary ...

near Sedgwick, Cumbria, away from Warrington. Police said the corpse was deliberately hidden, and a gold "zigzag" bracelet and blue topaz ring found with the body were identified by her parents. Due to the advanced decomposition of her remains, the cause of death could not be determined by coroner Alison Armer. Detective Sergeant Mike Foster stated at a hearing, "The pathologist could not determine the cause of death, but did say the body was that of a young female. Obviously, because of the condition of the body, she was unable to give any further findings." Police believe the body had probably been there since the day she disappeared or not long after. A second post mortem ordered by South Lakeland coroner Cyril Prickett failed to add anything further. Inspector Mike Forrester of

Cumbria Constabulary Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. As of September 2017, the force had 1,108 police officers, 535 police staff, 93 police community support officers, and 86 special constables. The force serves a p ...

stated at an inquest hearing that "it was unclear whether all of Ahmed's body parts had been found" and that DNA tests "made it a one in a billion chance that the remains were those of anyone other than Shafilea". Ahmed's dentist said he was 90% sure that the lower jaw found was hers after examining the dental work carried out on it. Ahmed's parents, 51-year-old taxi driver Iftikhar Ahmed and 48-year-old housewife Farzana Ahmed, were released without charge after briefly having been arrested along with five other members of her extended family. Several of Ahmed's poems interested the police, notably "I Feel Trapped", which is said to reflect Ahmed's despairing emotional state and describe a hopeless life with a family that ignored her, and that she had run away from home several times. Ahmed's friend Sarah Bennett recalled an occasion when Ahmed had been branded a "slut" by her mother for dying her hair and wearing false nails. Neighbour Sheila Costello said, "She has been reported missing twice before and been found staying with friends. We heard they had an argument over an arranged/forced marriage and that Shafi had run away. I hope nothing terrible has happened to her." After three years,

Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an are ...

had not established a suspect, although eight members of Ahmed's extended family were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to

pervert the course of justice Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statu ...

. Proceedings against them were dropped. An unidentified human hair not from members of her immediate family was reportedly found on Ahmed's foot.

Inquest into death

In January 2008, the coroner's inquest held that Ahmed was the victim of a "very vile murder", having been taken from her home on Liverpool Road in Warrington; the verdict was unlawful killing. Her family left the inquest without making any comment. After the inquest, her parents attempted unsuccessfully to have the verdict of unlawful killing overturned and replaced by an open verdict; her father argued that the coroner's view was "biased".

Trial and imprisonment of parents

Ahmed's younger sister Alesha arranged a robbery that took place at her parents' house on 25 August 2010, during which she, her brother, sisters, and parents were in the house. She was arrested and told police that her parents had killed Ahmed. She told police that after trying to force Ahmed to accept the arranged marriage, her parents were afraid her refusal would bring shame on the family, so her father put a plastic bag in Ahmed's mouth and suffocated her to death. On 7 September 2011, Cheshire Police announced that Ahmed's parents had been charged with her murder. Their trial began in May 2012, and they were both found guilty of murder and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

with a minimum term of 25 years on 3 August 2012. Mr Justice Roderick Evans said, "An expectation that she live in a sealed cultural environment separate from the culture of the country in which she lived was unrealistic, destructive and cruel." Cheshire Police purposefully did not refer to events as an "honour killing", clarifying they do not legally recognise the term and that what had happened was simply murder. After the trial, police were said to be looking into the possibility that Ahmed's parents had help when they dumped her body in 2003, and that they were looking into new information revealed during the trial. In August 2012, the chief executive of Bradford Council for Mosques encouraged anybody knowing about the case to come forward and said his group would help police.

Aftermath

Following the conviction of Ahmed's parents for her murder, Ahmed's close friend Melissa Powner read a statement outside the court: On 14 July 2015, the first National Day of Memory for Victims of Honour Killings was held. Organised by the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

-based charity Karma Nirvana, it is held annually on Ahmed's birthday.

Cited works and further reading

* * * - Print
PDF preview of chapter

References

External links

*
When Missing Turns to Murder: Shafilea Ahmed - A Victim Of Honour Abuse. ''Crime and Investigation Documentary 2019''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Shafilea 2000s missing person cases 2003 in England 2003 murders in the United Kingdom 2000s in Cheshire 2010s trials Filicides in England Formerly missing people History of Warrington Honour killing in the United Kingdom Incidents of violence against girls Missing person cases in England Murder in Cheshire Murder trials September 2003 crimes September 2003 events in the United Kingdom Trials in England Violence against women in England Female murder victims