A woman who fled her home after her family beat her and threatened to kill her for refusing to marry a member of her extended family in an arranged marriage says she "would rather die in the UK" than return to India.
She is now living in daily fear that she will be detained and forcibly repatriated to India after her asylum application was refused by the Home Office.
Maggie*, who cannot use her real name due to her ongoing fear of family reprisal, told the ECHO : "I fear for my life - my family want to kill me, but it's not just my family, the whole of my community turned on me."
Maggie, who comes from a suburban district in India, lived with her parents and had a comfortable lifestyle until her father passed away.
At that point, her mother lost all status as a widow, and the family assets were taken over by a family member.
The family insisted she should be married off to a relative, but she resisted.
She said: "I liked to wear shorts and heels - so they broke my ankle. I was beaten a lot.
"I went to the police but they told me to do what my family said.
A relative helped her escape and get a passport to come to the UK, where she arrived in 2013 on a student visa.
Maggie said: "If I had stayed, I would have been killed. I have received death threats since I've been in the UK.
"My family have big connections including internationally.
"They cannot know my location because they have threatened to have me chopped up, and they have wide connections in India but the Home Office have said I can just move to another state and want to send me back.
"I'd rather die - I'd rather the Home Office give me poison and let me die here than send me back to India."
Rensa Gaunt, a volunteer caseworker with SOAS Detention Support, who has been assisting with her case, told the ECHO: "She has had her asylum claim refused and in January had her housing and food allowance removed. Her situation is very uncertain."
Maggie has to report in the coming days to the Home Office, a process that Rensa describes as an experience bringing "great anxiety and uncertainty" as there is always the risk of detention.
Rensa said: "Essentially the Home Office is not obliged to inform people in advance of the intention to remove, so when people come to sign on, this is often the most convenient time to detain people.
"It is a very worrying time."
The woman, who is currently being supported by a local church organisation and other charitable agencies, has mental health issues related to her traumatic experiences - including PTSD with psychosis.
The prospect of returning to India, where women with symptoms of psychosis are stigmatised, and arriving destitute in an unknown city is exacerbating her mental health symptoms.
The dangers for single women in India has been the subject of ongoing discussion in recent years following a series of high profile attacks on women going about their day to day life.
Rensa said: "She is very very vulnerable. She's destitute and very unwell. A single unmarried woman in India is liable for attack - and with her mental health issues that makes her especially vulnerable.
"She has a community she is integrated with here where she lives - there is no benefit of forcing her away from that.
"The problem with her fresh claim is that she needs specialist expert reports to help her case, and there is a fundraiser for that. She needs £1,500 to get these expert reports, and she needs a lawyer."
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
More information about Maggie's plight and fundraiser appeal is available online .
*Name has been changed due to fears for safety.
