**Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage after father sold her as £10,000 bride **
A brave teenager has spoken for the first time of the harrowing ordeal of being beaten up in an arranged marriage after her father tried to sell her for £10,000.The 15-year-old girl was tricked into flying to Pakistan then forced to marry a 31-year-old man so he could get a British passport.She has described how she feared she would die after being hit, scarred with broken glass and locked up for refusing to get married.
Her harrowing story has been revealed as part of BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat investigation into forced marriages.
The girl, who would not be named, said: 'It was just about the money. He was literally selling me and my nationality so I could bring the person back.In pounds, it would have been about £10,000.
'He whacked me across the face, then I started rebelling more, saying ‘‘no’’.
Then he got a glass and scarred my arms. He had somebody holding me from behind and he got a glass and was cutting very deep.
‘I thought he might kill me. I thought I was going to die.’
The beatings started when the young girl refused to get married. She was then locked up without food or water.
Fortunately she summoned her strength and escaped to the British High Commission in Pakistan. She then returned home and was reunited with her worried mother.
Figures obtained by Newsbeat show that her ordeal is one of many suffered by an estimated 1,735 potential forced marriages involving British citizens in 2010.
It is believed that a third of the girls in arranged marriages are under 18. Newsbeat claims that the youngest was just 13.
Campaigners against forced marriages have now called for more awareness of the problem which is largely confined to Asian communities.
Jeremy Browne, the minister in joint charge of the forced marriage unit, said: ‘We think it’s a genuine priority, we want to help people.’
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
Nothing new there. Since most first generation Pakistani migrants were illiterate and working class, these incidents are hardly surprising. They won't end until the first generation dies out and the culture clash ends.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
'He whacked me across the face, then I started rebelling more, saying ''no''.
Then he got a glass and scarred my arms. He had somebody holding me from behind and he got a glass and was cutting very deep
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
Who knows what the real story is. She might be dating and having sex with someone already and the parents wanted to make sure that she is married to someone who is good for her not the loser she is dating and having sex with. This is quite common now a days in desi community where girls will want to have the liberty of going out with losers and enjoy sex and when parents impose restrictions , they blame parents for these heinous crimes. Or she might be genuinely being abused by parents. It is hard to tell from just reading the news. There might be more to the story then meets the eyes.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
As disturbing as the story is, I stopped paying attention to BBC hypes of Muslims/Pakistani based family abuse stories. For every Pakistani who is abusing his family in UK, there are 100 goray jerks who are doing the same but we dont get to hear about them. The family/Child protection laws that western countries have, did not originate because Pakistanis/Muslims were slapping their daughters, they originated because these drunk whiteys were beating their kids and spouses.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
I heard this ll over the radio today…
I have to make one big correction on behalf of all in the Asian community as today I have had to make this explanation so many times…
I do not support any action as given in the harrowing example however I must make one vital correction for the benefit of all…
This is not an Arranged marriage issue, it is an issue of Forced Marriage.
Arranged marraiges always have to include the possiblity that the individual can refuse… sure the parents will introduce the rishta and have a big say in the matter (naturally) however the final decision rests with the Individual and you can always say no… without making to much of a problem.
That is perfectly fine and there is nothing wrong with arranged marriages, in fact there is many reason to support such a methodology.
Forced marraiges are by no means a “desi” thing they sadly take place in some form all over the world regardless of the culture and the victims have no say and are practically sold into slavery.
As a human being and strong believer in faith I condemn all forced marriages and part of my job is to prevent such things ever taking place… hence why I have had to summon local community leaders and members of my team for an important briefing on this story…
However let not popular culture go and stir up anything false against desi people thier culture or anything else… today I am so annoyed at having to talk to idiots from the far right and left telling them the real nature of this story and that any abuse by any side will not be tolerated.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
For every Pakistani who is abusing his family in UK, there are 100 goray jerks who are doing the same but we dont get to hear about them.
I don't think that is really fair or true, the most high profile child abuse cases highlighted over the last few years have all involved white people. I live in the uk and I rarely hear about pakistani abuse.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
Who knows what the real story is. She might be dating and having sex with someone already and the parents wanted to make sure that she is married to someone who is good for her not the loser she is dating and having sex with. This is quite common now a days in desi community where girls will want to have the liberty of going out with losers and enjoy sex and when parents impose restrictions , they blame parents for these heinous crimes. Or she might be genuinely being abused by parents. It is hard to tell from just reading the news. There might be more to the story then meets the eyes.
Even if she was doing all this stuff, does that give her parents the right to abuse her and sell her to a man twice her age? Two wrongs don't make a right and the parents should behave better because they are the parents and much more mature.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
And lets not be fooled into thinking the government actually care about pakistani girls been abused, what they care about is the fact that there was almost another immigrant coming to the country. They are stuck with uncapped immigration from Europe and don't want anymore more people here, so highlighting the issue of 'visa marriages' only strengthens their case to ban all non EU immigration.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
Even if she was doing all this stuff, does that give her parents the right to abuse her and sell her to a man twice her age? Two wrongs don't make a right and the parents should behave better because they are the parents and much more mature.
yeah..don't like what she's doing.....kick her out of the house...........why force her against her will?
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
Even if she was doing all this stuff, does that give her parents the right to abuse her and sell her to a man twice her age? Two wrongs don't make a right and the parents should behave better because they are the parents and much more mature.
Not at all. That was not point of my post. Read it three times again to get the gist of it please.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
Not at all. That was not point of my post. Read it three times again to get the gist of it please.
Enlighten me. All I read was possible justifications for the parents to take that action, with a small disclaimer at the end. If you were playing devils advocate it was not clear to me.
Re: Teenager battered for refusing arranged marriage
And lets not be fooled into thinking the government actually care about pakistani girls been abused, what they care about is the fact that there was almost another immigrant coming to the country. They are stuck with uncapped immigration from Europe and don't want anymore more people here, so highlighting the issue of 'visa marriages' only strengthens their case to ban all non EU immigration.
They have been trying to crack down on things like this after being accused by certain sections of the Pak community of not doing enough over the past ten years. Maybe you would rather they stayed out of our business and let the forced marriages, honour killings and acid attacks carry on ? None of this stuff has any place in the west imo.
