Muslim girl beaten to death by family after being made to live in 'regime of fear'

Prosecutor tells court 19-year-old was regularly beaten and punished by her family

A Muslim girl in UK was beaten to death by her family after being forced to live under a “regime of fear” in which she was made to lick the toilet bowl and eat her own faeces.

Shahena Uddin, who hailed from Bangladesh, was found beaten to death on her bathroom floor after choking on her own vomit in October last year, St Albans Crown Court was told.

The 19-year-old was found the next day and it was revealed that she had endured ‘several beatings’, including with weapons. Both sides of her head had been severely attacked.

'Honour' killing: Pakistani man strangles daughter to death in Germany

The family called an ambulance after the girl’s four brothers, a sister and her two sisters-in-law attempted to cover their tracks. They told the medics that she was sick and had fainted.

Shahena Uddin PHOTO: SOUTH BEDS NEWS AGENCY

The court also heard that the 19-year-old who was one of eight siblings was regularly punished. Punishments would allegedly include being force-fed rice and paper and being made to stand for long periods staring into a toilet bowl. Further, she was forbidden from using the toilet at their home and would be punished if she attempted to use the sink.

“Blood and vomit stains had been covered up and Shahena's bloodstained clothing had been put into bin bags outside,” Prosecutor Simon Trimmer QC told the court.

“Shahena died at the hands of members of her own family in her own home. She probably endured several beatings that night. This was a troubled family unit held together by internal discipline of an extreme variety. She had been beaten with weapons during the previous 24 hours,” he added.

Outrage: Father killed daughter for not making ‘gol roti’

Shahena’s legal guardians, Suhail Uddin, 35, and his wife Salma Begum, 32, stand trial for her murder. The 19-year-old’s mother as well as her  three brothers are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. All of them deny the charges.

Trimmer further said, “Shahena was a vulnerable young person. She suffered abuse and violence at the hands of her own family. The regime of brutality and extreme violence was so deeply embedded and feared, that she could not risk the results of any form of complaint to the outside world.”

The court was also told that the 19-year-old had confided in her friends but that she would deny it when they tried to complain on her behalf for fear that she would be beaten again.

Woman killed for ‘honour’ on court premises

Her family would beat her with weapons such as a Wii baseball bat, a mop handle and a glow stick and even make eat her own vomit. One of her sisters told police that the female siblings were often forced to eat too much rice 'if they didn't eat nicely', the court heard. She said Shahena had spoken of running away.

Her trial continues.

This article originally appeared on Daily Mail