Mother of eight drugged and kidnapped her own daughter

A Muslim mother faces a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of drugging and kidnapping her own daughter when she broke off an arranged marriage and secretly married another man.
Shamim Akhtar, 59, plotted with close relatives to abduct her youngest daughter, Naila Afsar, 25, after she refused to marry her first cousin and ran away to marry her lover, Afsar Saddiq.
When her family discovered what she had done they threatened to kill her, before giving her a drink laced with a prescription sedative and driving her back to the family home.

Shamin Akhtar left) was unanimously found guilty by a jury after a four week trial at Preston Crown Court and her son Shamrez Khan, 34, (right) , and her son-in-law Zahid Mahmood also pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, kidnap and two counts of administering a drug with intent

Preston Crown Court was told that the family took Mr Saddiq’s mobile phone so he could not contact his bride and told him she would not be returning.
But the plot fell apart when Mr Saddiq dialled 999. Police stopped the Akhtars’ family car at a petrol station. They discovered Mrs Afsar drowsy on the back seat and she was taken to hospital.

 

Following a four week trial, mother-of-eight Akhtar, of Bradford, was found guilty of false imprisonment, kidnap and two counts of administering a drug with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Her son Shamrez Khan, 34, also of Bradford, and her son-in-law Zahid Mahmood, 37, of Accrington, Lancashire, admitted the same charges. All three were remanded in custody pending sentence next month.
Mrs Afsar broke down in the witness box as she recounted how she discovered when she was just 15 that her parents were planning an arranged marriage between her and her cousin, Amraiz Khan, who lived in Denmark.

Trial: The victim’s father Mohammed Khan, 57, and her sister Saima Mahmood, 30, were both cleared of wrong doing by the jury

She went along with their plans and agreed to get engaged in May 2009, but soon realised she and her cousin were incompatible and called off the wedding. Jonathan Dickinson, prosecuting, said: ‘Her family was upset with her ... that was, perhaps, putting it mildly.’
Mrs Afsar ran away to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she met and married Mr Saddiq in November 2009. The couple visited her parents at their home in the hope of reconciliation shortly afterwards, but they were told to divorce.
On the morning of January 17, 2010, the newlyweds were in bed at home when they heard banging on the doors.
Khan appeared in their bedroom shouting, while his mother and brother-in-law waited downstairs. They persuaded Mrs Afsar to stay at her sister Saima’s house in Accrington for two nights, claiming that her nieces were missing her.
But after she arrived and, unbeknown to Mrs Afsar, her mother, brother and brother-in-law travelled back to Newcastle to confront Mr Saddiq.

Statement: Speaking outside Preston Crown Court the victim's father Mohammed Khan said: 'I miss my daughter. When I die it is my wish for my youngest daughter to be present at my funeral'

They took Mrs Afsar’s belongings, including her passport, threatened Mr Saddiq and took his mobile phone, telling him his wife would not be coming back.
On their return to Accrington, Khan slapped his sister twice across the face and took her mobile phone. Mrs Afsar told the court he was ‘going on about the family honour’.
She added: ‘I thought I was in danger of being killed. I kept begging them to take me home and leave me be.’
When she pleaded to be allowed to go back to Newcastle, Mrs Afsar’s family pretended to agree, before giving her a warm, milky drink ahead of the journey.
The liquid was laced with the prescription sedative lorazepam.
Almost immediately Mrs Afsar began to feel dizzy and sick. She told the court ‘everything became blurred and I couldn’t keep my eyes open’. She was bundled into a car bound for Bradford, but police stopped the vehicle not long into the journey, in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Mrs Afsar’s father Mohammed Khan, 57, of Bradford, and sister Saima Mahmood, 31, of Accrington, were both cleared of false imprisonment, kidnap and two charges of administering the drug lorazepam with intent.
Detective Inspector Mark Vaughton, of Lancashire Police, said Mrs Afsar had shown ‘immense courage’ to go through with the prosecution.


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