A Pakistani-origin man has been jailed for life in the UK for beating to death his teenaged bride weeks after she arrived from Pakistan.
LONDON: A Pakistani-origin man has been jailed for life in the UK for beating to death his teenaged bride weeks after she arrived from Pakistan.
25-year-old Shazad Khan, found guilty of killing his 19-year-old wife Sabia Rani, hailing from Palak in Mirpur district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, will serve a minimum of 15 years before he is eligible for parole.
The duo had an arranged marriage in 2002, but it was not until December 2005 that Rani arrived in Britain.
Khan said Rani had no grasp of English and found it difficult to adjust to the lifestyle in Britain which
irritated him.
He had told his work supervisor that he was unhappy with his marriage because he had been rushed into it, and soon
began beating his wife.
Rani was found dead in a bath of cold water at the family home on May 21, last year after another attack.
Leeds Crown Court was told that the victim's injuries were similar to those of a car crash victim and were so severe
that she would have been in constant pain and ill for at least three weeks before she died.
A Home Office pathologist claimed that Rani's injuries were the worse he had seen in a 16-year-career. Yet Khan's
sister said she had seen no evidence of injuries and she and Rani had been great friends.
The court heard further inquiries where being made with the family following the conviction.
Rani had dropped out of school at the age of 13 to take care of her siblings.
In Britain, she was staying at Oakwood Grange, Roundhay, Leeds with eight members of her husband's westernised family.
The smallest tasks - visiting the supermarket or knowing how to apply the make up her husband expected her to wear -
were difficult for Rani, Khan told detectives during interview.
He admitted this irritated him, as did her failure to fit in with the family.
Khan said his mother felt Rani was possessed by evil spirits.
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