Daughter 'murdered out of shame'

A couple murdered their "westernised" teenage daughter because they believed her conduct was bringing shame on the family, a court has heard.

The decomposed remains of 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed were discovered in Cumbria in February 2004.

As her parents Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed went on trial for murder, prosecutor Andrew Edis QC told Chester Crown Court they had killed her because she refused to obey them by agreeing to an arranged marriage.

The court was also told that the case only came to trial after Shafilea's sister, Alesha, confessed to seeing the murder taking place.

The court heard that Alesha kept silent for seven years and only told police after she was arrested for taking part in a robbery at her parents' home in Liverpool Road, Warrington.

Mr Edis told the jury of seven men and five women: "The defendants, having spent the best part of 12 months trying to really crush her, realised they were never going to be able to succeed and finally killed her because her conduct dishonoured the family, bringing shame on them."

Ahmed, 52, and his 49-year-old wife, deny murdering Shafilea.

Mr Edis said: "The prosecution alleges that she (Shafilea) was murdered by the two defendants, her parents, at the family home on the night of September 11/12, September 2003. She was 17 years old."

He said the case had taken a "very long time" to be brought to trial because it was not until August 2010 that a witness to the crime came forward. Mr Edis said: "This witness is Alesha Ahmed, Shafilea's younger sister."

"This evidence was the final piece of the puzzle which the police had been trying to solve for many years."