England: Mother convicted for forcing daughter into marriage in legal first

The 18-year-old was sent to Pakistan to marry the man was was 16 years her senior.

A “marriage contract” had been made years before the ceremony and the girl became pregnant at the age of 13 in Pakistan, before getting an abortion upon her return to the UK.

At Birmingham Crown Court a jury found the mother guilty of two counts of forced marriage.

Giving evidence, the girl recalled crying as her mother led her to sign marriage papers after duping her into the trip to Pakistan.

“I didn’t want to get married to him,” she said.

The court heard that her mother threatened to burn her passport and assaulted her where she protested against the marriage.

Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said the girl “has been let down badly by her mother, whose love and attention she craves”.

The mother was also convicted of perjury after lying about the incident in the High Court but was cleared of a charge of perverting the course of justice and will be sentenced today.

The case marks the first time forced marriage has been successfully prosecuted in England after the practice became an offence in 2014.