A teenage girl was murdered by her parents in front of her siblings for wearing a top that showed off her arms.

Shafilea Ahmed, 17, suffered years of abuse from her mum and dad before they decided to end her life for bringing ‘dishonour’ to the family.

The couple pinned their daughter down on the sofa and stuffed a carrier bag into her mouth until she turned blue and suffocated in September 2003.

Shafilea Ahmed, 17, suffered years of abuse at the hands of her parents (Picture: PA)

Her father, Iftikhar Ahmed, had tried to force her into an arranged marriage (Picture: Rex Features)

Farzana Ahmed thought her daughter had shamed the family (Picture: Rex Features)

Her father, Iftikhar Ahmed, then put her body in the back of his car and dumped it 70 miles away from their home in Warrington.


The next day police were alerted when Shafilea wasn’t seen at school – but her parents stated she had run away.



Now one of the teenager’s close family friends, Shanin Munir, has helped reveal the extent of the abuse she went through before her death.

In a new documentary called ‘When Missing Turns into Murder’, she said Shafilea’s mum and dad would often call her a ‘whore and a prostitute’ and beat her if they believed she was misbehaving.

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The teenager dreamed of being a lawyer and had ‘texted boys’, although not on her own phone because ‘her parents would check’, Shanin said.

She told The Sun: ‘I’d heard there were physical beatings and a lot of emotional abuse. Her sister told me her parents would lock Shafilea in the garden.

‘She wanted to escape her home, for her it was hell.’

Shafilea was the oldest child of Farzana and Iftikhar Ahmed, who met through an arranged marriage.

As she got older, she adopted a more Western way of living, taking an interest in fashion and wearing make-up and false nails.

Shanin Munir kept copies of the letters (Picture: AETN)

Her parents tried to curb her ‘rebellious’ nature and one year arranged a holiday to Pakistan, where they intended to marry her off to a cousin.

Shafilea refused to go and so her father drugged her with sleeping pills as a result.

After awaking in Pakistan, the teenager was so terrified about what would happen she drank bleach in a suicide attempt, severely burning her throat and oesophagus.

She was rushed to hospital and kept there for two months, while her father and siblings flew back home to the UK.

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When she was well enough to return, he told medical professionals in Warrington that his daughter had mistaken the bleach for mouthwash.

After that, the abuse grew more intense and Shafilea’s parents planned an ‘honour killing’ as a way to end the ‘shame’ she had brought on the family.

During a furious row over her short-sleeved top, they killed her in the living room and made her siblings watch.

Shafilea’s body was found five months after her death in the River Kent near Sedgwick, Cumbria.

The family put on a funeral and pretended to grieve, but her sister Alesha later went to the police and bravely told them what had happened.

Iftikhar told doctors his daughter’s suicide attempt was an accident (Picture: PA)

Both parents were found guilty and were sentenced to 25 years in prison (Picture: Rex Features)

She described seeing Shafilea’s eyes going wide and her legs kicking frantically before she urinated on the sofa in the struggle.



In September 2011, Iftikhar and Farzana were arrested and charged on suspicion of murder.

After seeing the case in the media, family friend Shahin decided to come forward as she had received letters from Shafilea’s other sister talking about the night of the murder.

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The sister asked for the letters to be burned but luckily Shanin made copies of their contents.

‘She talked about this one chair where they would always sit Shafilea, and the family would gather around,’ Shanin said.

‘That’s when they started abusing her and beating her. One would hold her while the other would physically abuse her.’

Iftikhar and Farzana were found guilty and were sentenced to 25 years in prison with no parole in 2012.

When Missing Turns To Murder is on Crime and Investigation channel at 9pm on Monday April 15

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