ITV1 A Murder Without Honour's full true story behind 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed's horrific death
A poignant documentary about the murder of a 17-year-old teenager killed by her parents is being shown this week. ITV's programme True Crime Presents' third episode, titled A Murder Without Honour, follows the murder of 17-year-old British Pakistani girl Shafilea Ahmed, who was controlled and abused by her patriarchal family for years.
Over two decades ago, in 2003, she was murdered after she refused to accept an arranged marriage. In the ITV crime documentary, Geraint Jones, a senior investigating officer with the Cheshire Police, takes viewers through the investigation. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.
That police probe involved an entomologist and an environmental profiler, who worked on the overgrown area by the River Kent in Cumbria - 70 miles from Shafilea's home in Cheshire, where her dismembered body was found months later. But it took nine years before a crucial witness statement resulted in the case going to court.
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Who was Shafilea Ahmed and what happened to her?
17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in July, 1986, before her family moved to Warrington in Cheshire, where she was brought up. Her parents were an ultra-conservative Pakistani couple who got married and had Shafilea when her taxi-driver father was still married to a Danish woman, with whom he had a baby son, as reported by the Guardian. Iftikhar married his cousin Farzana, after he succumbed to pressure from a family relative in Pakistan.
As a teenager, Shafilea had dreams of going to university and forging a successful career. However, according to the Guardian, she lived between two cultures - one where she could "wear western clothes like her friends, have boyfriends she chose herself, and be free to hang around with whom she wanted", and another where she was expected to become a devoted wife. The Guardian reported that at the age of 17, she was the victim of extreme violence at her parents' hand, that had escalated from since she was 15.
In February, 2003, she was said to have run away from home and asked social services for help. Six months before her death on September 11, 2003, Shafilea drank bleach while in Pakistan as a cry for help. Her parents claimed she had mistaken the bleach for mouthwash, which was deemed as a "stupid and obvious lie" by the prosecution at her murder trial, the Guardian reported.
When Shafilea went missing for the last time, in September, 2003, her parents failed to report it to the authorities. According to the Guardian, it was only when her teacher, Joanne Code, at Great Sankey High School overheard Shafilea's younger siblings discuss her disappearance, that it was reported to the police. A search was launched on September 18 and a major campaign urged anyone with information to come forward. Five months after she was murdered, Shafilea's body was discovered in February, 2004, in the River Kent in Sedgwick, Cumbria, following a flood in the area.
When did the murder trial take place and what was the outcome?
A Home Office pathologist, Dr Alison Armour, ruled out natural causes. As quoted by the Guardian, the pathologist said: "In this case, death has occurred elsewhere... the most likely cause of death... would be smothering or strangulation - ligature or manual or an element of both". A part of Shafilea's skull was missing, there was no sign of blood on her clothing, and she was identified by dental records and her clothing.
The road to find the answers for what happened to Shafilea was a complicated one. In January, 2008, an inquest into her death in Kendal, Cumbria, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. The coroner, Ian Smith, concluded that Shafilea had been the subject of a "very vile murder", as reported by The Times in 2008.
In 2010, Shafilea's parents - Iftikhar and Farzana, were arrested on suspicion of her murder, but were then released on police bail. But in September, 2011, they were charged with her murder after a crucial witness statement was brought forward.
During a police interview, Shafilea's younger sister, Alesha, revealed that she watched her parents hold down and murder Shafilea. In 2012, Alesha became a key prosecution witness during a 10-week trial. Alesha told the jury her parents had pushed Shafilea on to the settee and forced a bag in her mouth.
According to the BBC's report of the case, Alesha heard her mother say "just finish it here" as they killed Shafilea in front of their other children. On August 3, 2012, the parents of Shafilea Ahmed were both sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years after being found guilty of murdering their 17-year-old daughter.
The prosecution found Iftikhar Ahmed and his wife, Farzana Ahmed, killed Shafilea at their family home on September 11, 2003, as they believed she had brought shame on the family, reported the BBC. In his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Roderick Evans said: "Shafilea's conduct was bringing shame upon you and your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than your love of you child. In order to rid yourselves of that problem, you killed Shafilea by suffocating her in the presence of your other four children"
What did Shafilea's friends say?
As reported by ITV, following the 10-week trial, Shafilea's best friend, Melissa Powner, said: "We have waited for this day for many years. We have watched as her killers roamed free. Yet today we heard those important words – words that have finally brought our friend the justice she deserves. Shafilea was a caring, high-spirited and brave young lady who even in her toughest times always strived to remain positive and hopeful that one day she too would be able to live the peaceful and happy life that she deserved."
The Guardian reported that Cheshire Constabulary decided not to refer to Shafilea's murder as an "honour" killing, as they explained it was not a term they recognised. Investigators on the case said the term could have been used as some form of mitigation to explain to a jury that someone was protecting their honour.
Every year, the National Day of Remembrance for victims of honour-based abuse is marked on July 14, which is what would have been Shafilea Ahmed's birthday. The day is led by Leeds-based charity Karma Nirvana, which is committed to ending honour-based abuse in the UK. On its website, it says: "On 14 July every year, we remember those lost to honour-based abuse and we bring renewed hope to those who need it."
Domestic violence organisations that are there for you should you need them:
They are:
Karma Nirvana - 0800 5999 247
Refuge - www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk; The freephone, 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247.
True Crime Present's Episode Three: A Murder Without Honour will be aired at 9pm on ITV and ITVX on Tuesday, January 28.
