Re: Muslim actress who played Padma Patil attacked for dating Hindu
The brother has been jailed (only 6 months tho):
‘Marry a Muslim or die’ threat to Harry Potter actress revealed as brother is jailed for beating her up
Beaten: Harry Potter actress Afshan Azad pleaded for leniency from the court, begging the judge not to jail her older brother
**The full horror of a three-hour attack on one of the stars of the Harry Potter films was revealed in court for the first time as her brother was jailed for beating her up. Ashraf Azad has been locked up for six months after setting upon his sister Afshan having discovered she was involved in a relationship with a non-Muslim man.
**
Manchester Crown Court heard he left his younger sister bruised and swollen after grabbing her by the hair, throwing her across a room and punching her in the head and back as she cowered on the floor of the family home.
Actress Afshan, 22, played Padma Patil, a classmate of the young wizard at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was plucked from obscurity to fill the role and appeared in two of the Hollywood blockbusters. Her married brother Ashraf Azad, 28, pleaded guilty in December to assaulting her at the family home. Azad was handed the six-month sentence at Manchester Crown Court despite a plea from his sister for leniency. The actress wrote a letter to Judge Roger Thomas QC asking for her brother not to be locked up and saying that she had forgiven him.
The court heard that Ms Azad has never supported the prosecution despite giving police an initial statement. But Judge Thomas said it was a ‘prolonged and nasty attack’, adding that domestic violence in the home could not be tolerated. He called Azad’s assault an ‘ill-tempered attempt to dissuade her from continuing the relationship’.
Richard Vardon QC, prosecuting, said Azad overheard his sister talking on her mobile phone in her bedroom on May 21 last year.
The court heard he believed she was talking to the man she was in a relationship with, a Hindu. The Azad family are ‘devout Muslims’. Mr Vardon said the relationship was ‘a cause of some concern’ for her family and Ms Azad knew it would never be accepted because of differing religious beliefs.
Ashraf Azad (left) has been given a six-month prison sentence for the attack on his sister, Harry Potter actress Afshan. Their father Abul Azad (right) was cleared in court of a charge of making threats to kill
Talent: Miss Azad starred alongside Rupert Grint in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The court heard Azad heard his sister talking as he was in the bathroom then swore at her, saying: ‘Watch what I will do.’ He burst into her bedroom as she ended the call and attempted to hide the mobile phone and its sim card. Azad began to shout at her then grabbed her by the hair and threw her across the bedroom. The court heard Ms Azad was crying and begging him to stop.
JUDGE THOMAS: 'It should be understood that whether or not a case is prosecuted is not a matter of choice for a witness, or even a victim of crime.
‘It is rather a matter of public, not private, concern and interest to see instances of domestic violence properly prosecuted through the courts’
Azad, the court heard, then punched her in the back and to the head as she cowered in a ball on the floor. He punched her several times more before his wife came in and told him to stop.** Mr Vardon said: ‘He told his wife to stay out of it because he would do what he wanted to do with his little sister.’**
The court heard Azad pulled her up by the hair and dragged her downstairs to his father Abul Azad’s room. Azad then told his father to ‘sort your daughter out’ and called her a ‘slag’.
Ms Azad, the court heard, was then pushed head-first onto her father’s bed, where she heard the words ‘just kill her’.
Azad, who had been drinking, then attempted to strangle her, Mr Vardon said.** He added: ‘She was struggling to breathe and was scared for her life.’**
The court heard Ms Azad’s mother and Azad’s wife then entered the bedroom and she was told that she would have to be sent to Bangladesh to marry. Mr Vardon added: ‘Her mother called her a prostitute and asked why she was obsessed with sex.’
Azad then ran downstairs, where the court was told Ms Azad heard knives rattling in a drawer after threats were made to kill her. Mr Vardon said: ‘She was told that she had to marry a Muslim or die. She was feeling very scared.’ The identity of the man who she was in a relationship with was then revealed and Azad went out to look for him, the court heard. Ms Azad went back to bed but fled the home through her bedroom window the following morning and made a statement to police.
Mr Vardon said: ‘She felt that if she stayed things would get much worse. She said she was in genuine fear for her life.’ Ms Azad suffered bruising and swelling to her face, back, neck and arms. Azad was subsequently arrested. His father Abul Azad was later cleared in court of a charge of making threats to kill.
In a letter to the court, Ms Azad said she ‘expressed forgiveness’.
But Judge Thomas said: 'It should be understood that whether or not a case is prosecuted is not a matter of choice for a witness, or even a victim of crime. ‘It is rather a matter of public, not private, concern and interest to see instances of domestic violence properly prosecuted through the courts.’
Ms Azad now lives in London
Source: Harry Potter actress Ashraf Azad asked judge not to jail brother who beat her | Daily Mail Online
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