A mother who tricked her teenage daughter into going to Pakistan and forcing her to marry has been jailed for four and a half years.
The mother, from Birmingham, had forced the victim to marry a male relative who was 16 years older than her.
Years earlier, the man had taken her virginity and she became pregnant after a marriage contract was entered into against the girl’s will.
The then 13-year-old had to undergo an abortion upon returning to the UK. Her GP reported his concerns to social services.
The judge at Birmingham Crown Court said the unemployed mother had acted with “cowardice” and “deceit”.
It is the first time a forced marriage case of this kind has been successfully prosecuted in a criminal court in the UK.
Jurors heard how as the girl had approached her 18th birthday, she was tricked by her mother into going to Pakistan on what she believed was a family holiday.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons to protect the identity of the victim, was convicted of deceiving the victim to go to Pakistan, in order to enter into a false marriage, forced marriage and perjury, after she later lied about the incident in the High Court.
Judge Patrick Thomas QC told the mother: “You had cruelly deceived her. She was frightened, alone, held against her will, being forced into a marriage she dreaded.
“You must have known that was her state of mind. Yet for your own purposes, you drove the marriage through.
“Her courage and respect for the truth throughout these proceedings have been admirable, and are a marked contrast to your own cowardice and deceit, continuing right through this trial and no doubt hereafter.”
The judge added: “You have sought to blame her for everything, and yourself have accepted responsibility for nothing.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
