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Muslim preacher who tried to strangle his daughter, 16, for refusing an arranged marriage to her cousin spared jail
- Abid Hussain grabbed his daughter around the neck after she rejected wedding plans
- Her two brothers were also convicted of assault
- All three were handed suspended jail terms
By DAVID BAKER
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Free to go: Abid Hussain leaving Manchester Crown Court where the Muslim preacher who tried to strangle his 16-year old daughter avoided jail
A Muslim preacher who tried to strangle his 16-year old daughter after she refused to enter into an arranged marriage with her cousin has avoided jail.
Abid Hussain, 56, grabbed the neck of Rabiyah Abid and said: 'If you don't follow my rules I will kill you' after she rejected his plans for her to wed.
Hussain also left the teenager in fear of her life as he battered her about the head at the family home above the mosque he runs at Longsight, Manchester.
The father-of-five had snapped after discovering Rabiyah refused to follow strict Islamic tradition and embarked on a romance with a student she had met on Facebook.
She had previously run away from home to be with him and even helped police draw up a court order banning her father from forcing her into the marriage.
At Manchester Crown Court yesterday Hussain was convicted of assault and making threats to kill. He admitted his daughter's conduct had 'brought shame' on his family and caused him 'mental torture' but denied wrongdoing.
His two sons Nawab Uddin, 23, and Bahaud Uddin, 21 were also convicted of assaulting the teen.
Henry Blackshaw, prosecuting said Rabiyah lived in a 'very male dominated, patriarchal household' where she was left 'exhausted' by cooking and cleaning.
In accordance with Islamic tradition she had been 'betrothed' by her father to his sister's son in Pakistan at just 15 years old.
But she ended up falling for college student Gulraiz Sultan whom she had met on social media.
In November last year, while her father was celebrating Eid in Pakistan, Mr Sultan travelled from his home in London to Oldham to stay with a friend and Rabiyah fled her home to stay with him.
Nawab reported the teenager missing to police but when officers traced her, she told them of her fears that she would be forced to marry when she had finished her GCSEs at school.
When her father returned from Pakistan, he learned that she had stayed with her secret boyfriend, and to add 'insult to injury' he was served by police with a Forced Marriage Prevention Order stopping him from pressuring her into the arranged marriage.
When Hussain saw the document - which led to the girl's passport being taken by the authorities - he regarded it as a 'combination of her and the UK judicial system depriving him of his right to choose her husband within his own family'.
Weeks later, on December 26, last year he assaulted her leading her to send a text message to Sultan saying 'I thought I was going to die last night'.
Two days later her brothers, Nawab and Bahaud were said to have snatched her phone from her - to stop the teenager texting Sultan and smacked her in the face and head.
She wore a veil to hide her injuries and the next day she reported them to police.
Describing the attack by her father, Rabiyah said: 'He used his right hand to grab my neck. It was quite painful. He said "If you don't follow my rules I will kill you." He was quite angry, really angry.'
Mr Blackshaw said: 'Hussain is plainly a devout man retaining traditional values regarding family matters, which is the reason for what we say was the offending in this case, because his daughter was not going along with his wishes in following that cultural duty.'
In his defence Hussain claimed his daughter was free to wed whom she wanted and accused of her and her boyfriend of making false accusations.
He said: 'I told her, if you want to go with him you are at liberty but adopt a proper way, a civilised way, a modern way. We can't force you. But I got told by someone that they made a plan that father should go to jail.'
He told the jury his daughter's behaviour had brought shame on the family and caused them 'mental torture' but denied that anger had led him to attack her.
Conviction: Father-of-five Abid Hussain and his two sons were all convicted of assault at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square
Bahaud Uddin said he would have preferred for his sister to marry their cousin, since 'blood matching blood' was better.
Sentencing Hussain Judge Michael Leeming said: 'You're a man of high standing in the local Asian community and take your family, culture and religion very seriously.
'Its clear that these offences were committed in the context of your strict religious and cultural beliefs.
'At home Rabia had in your view departed from what was expected of her.
'But of course she was 16 and entitled to make her own decisions and mistakes.
'And if it comes about that she has made a mistake then she will know it is of her own making.
'I am satisfied this was a strange loss of temper but an attempt to part your own influence and control on your daughter an attempt to coerce her in to conforming with your own beliefs.'
Sentencing Nawab Uddin the judge said: 'As with your father you stand to deny your responsibility for what the jury have found you guilty of.
'You told the probation officer you regard your sisters behaviour as shameful, that she had brought shame to your family and that she had been effectively manipulated and deceived.'
Sentencing Bahaud Uddin, The judge said: 'You deny these allegations and regard yourself as being wrongly convicted.
'There's concerns about your rigid thinking and the fact you seem to have no victim awareness or empathy.
'And your described your sisters complaints as being malicious and you regard her as having changed by her boyfriend.'
Abid Hussain received a suspended sentence of nine months suspended for 12 months, with 100 hours unpaid work.
Nawab Uddin received a suspended sentence of three months suspended for 12 months, with 100 hours unpaid work and a supervision order for 12 months.
Bahaud Uddin received three months suspended for 12 months, with 200 hours unpaid work.
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