Judge orders doctor's family to let her return home
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/3757240/Judge-orders-doctors-family-to-let-her-return-home.html>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/3757240/Judge-orders-doctors-family-to-let-her-return-home.html The parents of an NHS doctor who is allegedly being held captive by her family in Bangladesh have been ordered to return her legal papers so she can return to Britain. Last Updated: 9:24AM GMT 14 Dec 2008 Dr Humayra Abedin: NHS doctor held captive by family in Banglad Dr Humayra Abedin was forced into an engagement on a routine visit to see her family Dr Humayra Abedin, a trainee GP based in east London, has been in the family home in the capital Dhaka and has had virtually no contact with the outside world for almost four months. Humayra Abedin, whose parents were suspected of preparing to force her to marry, is now free to return to fly home, a court ruled today. Judge Syed Mahmod Hossain she should be given back her passport, driver's licence and credit card. "It perplexes me as to why the parents kept her confined and interfered with her personal life," he said. "I am shocked." Her father wailed loudly following the verdict and had to be propped up as he left the courtroom. Humayra, 32, travelled to Bangladesh on August 3 after she was told by family members that her mother was seriously ill. She had planned to return to Britain soon after, but informed a female cousin that her family were holding her captive and planned to force her to marry a stranger. Humayra – an only child – reportedly has a Hindu boyfriend in London, which has angered her Muslim family. Her lawyer, Sara Hossain, said after the verdict: "Our courts have shown that we can guarantee the liberty of our citizens. This is quite a precedent." Bangladeshi police visited her parents' home in August, but her mother and father would not allow Humayra to speak to officers without them present. They told police they would bring their daughter to the local police station the following day but did not turn up. Outside the courtroom, her father Joynal told AFP he and his wife had done nothing wrong. "She has not been held captive. These allegations are all false," he said. Last month the British government introduced a law allowing courts to stop forced marriages and provide protection to British nationals who have been married against their will. Lawyers in Britain had filed a case in London on Humayra's behalf under the new Forced Marriage Act, on the basis she was a resident of that country. Arranged marriages in conservative Muslim Bangladesh are common. In July a British teenager was rescued from a forced marriage to her Bangladeshi cousin after begging diplomats to help. The British High Commission in Dhaka said it assisted in 56 forced marriage cases between April 2007 and March 2008. Original story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3659356/NHS-doctor-held-captive-by-family-in-Bangladesh-facing-forced-marriage.html From The Times of London: ‘Forced marriage’ doctor, Humayra Abedin, freed by Bangladesh court <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5340058.ece>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5340058.ece Dr Humayra Abedin, 33, of East Ham, has allegedly been held captive by her parents for four months Rhys Blakely in Mumbai An NHS doctor who was held captive by her family in Bangladesh for four months while they plotted her forced marriage must be allowed to return to her home in Britain, a court in Dhaka ruled today. Doctor Humayra Abedin, 33, who is training to become a GP at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London, was allegedly beaten, drugged and held against her will after being duped into flying to Bangladesh on August 3 when family members claimed that her mother was seriously ill. Dr Abedin, who is an only child, has a Hindu boyfriend in London, which angered her Muslim family, according to reports. They were preparing to marry her to a Muslim stranger, it is alleged. A friend of Dr Abedin, who had lived with the trainee doctor in East Ham, sounded the alarm after receiving a text on August 11. "PLEASE HELP ME. My life is in danger. They have locked me in house. My job is at stake. They are making my life hell," the message said. Related Links * Police want forced marriage law * Fleeing a forced marriage * Court demands return of doctor Dr Abedin was later able to make a small number of secret telephone calls. The friend said: "She was telling me they were beating her up, she was locked in her room and she was not allowed to go out of the room. "She said her mum was always with her, even when she was going for a shower. They were telling her she was not mentally well and they were forcing her to take sedatives." Today, Judge Syed Mahmod Hossain ordered Humayra Abedin's parents to return her passport, driver's licence and credit card. "It perplexes me as to why the parents kept her confined and interfered with her personal life. I am shocked," he said. Dr Abedin's father cried out loudly on hearing the verdict and had to be assisted as he left the courtroom. He said that he and his wife had done nothing wrong: "She has not been held captive. These allegations are all false". Dr Abedin's lawyer, Sara Hossain, said: "Our courts have shown that we can guarantee the liberty of our citizens. This is quite a precedent." The trainee doctors' boyfriend, a 44-year-old Hindu Bangladeshi software engineer, had alleged that Dr Abedin's Muslim parents had bound and gagged her, held her captive in a house in Dhaka, and pleaded with her to marry a Muslim. He said that death threats had been issued against his family in Bangladesh. "They told her they'd prefer her to die than return to London," he told reporters. A Metropolitan Police investigation was launched in June following allegations that the doctor's mother and uncle tried to hold her captive in London. Last week, the High Court in London issued an injunction under the new Forced Marriage Act, demanding that Dr Abedin be allowed to return to Britain. Though the Act is not enforceable in Bangladesh it was hoped it would place pressure on the Bangladeshi authorities. Dr Abedin trained as a doctor in Bangladesh before coming to Britain in September 2002, when she studied for a Masters in Public Health at Leeds University. She was due to start in a GP's surgery as a registrar in August. Forced marriages, many involving women with homes abroad, remain commonplace in Bangladesh, activists say. The British High Commission in Dhaka said that it assisted in 56 forced marriage cases between April 2007 and March 2008. In the first nine months of this year, the Government's Forced Marriage Unit was contacted by 1,308 callers sounding the alert over suspected forced marriages. The unit directly helped 388 victims - nearly twice as many as in 2007. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "Forced marriage is an appalling and indefensible practice that the government is working hard to stop.' <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/please%20donate.html>Donations are needed and very much appreciated <*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Kingdom!<*}}}>< Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue with Your help, so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. 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