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24-year old model commits suicide over fears of being forced into marriage

A mum-of-one was found hanged after fearing she was about to be forced into an arranged marriage by her parents

24-year old model commits suicide over fears of being forced into marriage

A mum-of-one was found hanged after fearing she was about to be forced into an arranged marriage by her parents, an inquest heard.

Nadia Menaz, 24, was found dead at her home in Oldham, Greater Manchester in May, five months after taking out a court order to stop her family from forcing her to marry.

The 24-year-old model, wedding planner and former army cadet, was already married in an Islamic ceremony to Umar Rasool, 25, but the union wasn’t recognised under UK law.

Her family also disapproved of the marriage and were allegedly trying to force her to marry someone else, leading her to take out a Forced Marriage Protection Order against them.

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In the weeks before her death Ms Menaz underwent psychiatric treatment at Royal Oldham Hospital but was later discharged.

On May 1, the day she died, she had argued with Mr Rasool, who then went to see his family and visit their local mosque, the court heard.

Ms Menaz had sent him a text saying she was going to hang herself, and when he returned home at around 6.30pm he found his wife's body.

Her father, 60-year-old Sabir Hussain, and her mother Ruksana Kousar, 55, denied trying to force Nadia into marriage and at first claimed they were unaware of the protection order.

However under questioning they admitted they knew about it, but then alleged their daughter had been killed by a ‘third party’.

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Mr Hussain told the inquest: ‘Once she got married there was no point in her having issues. [Her husband] used to assault her physically. They used to have a lot of arguments at home. I don’t believe my daughter killed herself.’

According to psychiatrist Dr Philip Taylor, Nadia was still suffering from traumatic incidents from her childhood – she found out her ‘parents’ were actually her aunt and uncle, and she was the victim of a sexual assault when she was 15.

‘She said she had difficulties trusting others. She described fears of abandonment and rejection and she had a history of unstable relationships with others,’ he added.

Arranged marriage has become a common practice in the UK and it is widely practiced by Pakistanis and Indians.

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