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Man jailed for abusing and enslaving his Pakistani wife for two years

A British citizen who kept his wife as a slave for two years, and called her a bitch when she asked for sex has been jailed for two years.

Safraz Ahmed, jailed for abusing his wife

Safraz Ahmed, 34, forced his Pakistani wife, Sumara Iram, to carry out chores from 5am until midnight every day, while also inflicting bodily injuries and threatening to kill her.

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The attacks started almost immediately after the couple’s second official wedding ceremony in February 2013.

It was revealed during the court hearing that when Sumara requested him to consummate their marriage, Ahmed reacted angrily, ‘slapped her across the face and called her a whore, a bitch and a shameless woman’.

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Prosecutor Caroline Haughey said: "In his words, he told her he had married her so she could look after his mother and his house."

Subsequent to the verbal abuse, Ahmed once punched Sumara in the face, leaving her requiring surgery,  he also once covered her face with a cushion and threw tins of cat food at her head.

The beatings and abuse were commonplace in the marriage, until she tried to take her own life by taking an overdose of painkillers.

Ahmed was arrested in February 2014 after neighbours saw him dragging Sumara into the house by her hair.

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The man eventually admitted to holding her in domestic servitude and assault which brought her actual bodily harm.

Sentencing him to an aggregate of 2 years and 8 months, Judge Christopher Hehir of the Woolwich Crown Court said: "Between the point when your wife arrived and when there was a further ceremony, you had a change of heart about Ms Iram, possibly because of different levels of education and differing backgrounds.

‘She was bullied and controlled by you, given little money and expected to cook, clean and look after your family as if she was a skivvy."

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