London, Nov. 17 (ANI): Sister of British-Pakistani honour killing victim Shafilea Ahmed was spared a jail sentence over ‘mercy’ after being accused of organising a robbery.
Alesha Ahmed pleaded guilty to helping to organise an armed raid at her parents’ home in Warrington, Cheshire, in August 2010.
But, it was during questioning about the robbery that Alesha, now 24, revealed for the first time that she and her siblings witnessedShafilea’s murder seven years earlier, that ultimately led her parents, Iftikhar and Farzana, to be convicted of the crime, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the paper, Shafilea, 17, vanished in August 2003 and her decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria in February 2004 but it was Alesha’s statement to police that provided enough evidence to charge the parents, leading to their convictions this year.
During her parents’ trial in London, she told the jury that they pushed Shafilea on to the settee in their house and she heard her mother say ‘Just finish it here’ as they forced a plastic bag into the teenager’s mouth and killed her in front of their other children, the paper said.
Taxi driver Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana, 49, denied the murder but were convicted by a jury on August 2 this year and both were jailed for 25 years. Farzana Ahmed is currently seeking to overturn her conviction, the paper added. (ANI)