Muslim cleric attacks daughter who refused arranged marriage, UK

DigitalJournal.com 30 July 2012
By Katerina Nikolas

Manchester - A Muslim cleric who attacked his teenage daughter and threatened to kill her, after she rejected his plans for an arranged marriage, has received a suspended sentence. Even the prosecutor made allowances for the cleric pursuing his cultural duties.

Muslim Cleric Abid Hussain, 56, head of the Longsight Mosque in Manchester, escaped a custodial sentence after assaulting his 16-year-old daughter Rabiyah Abid. The attack took place when the teenage girl refused to follow her father's demands for an arranged marriage to a 15-year-old cousin in Pakistan.

When Hussain discovered his daughter had chosen her own boyfriend and ran away from home to avoid the arranged marriage, he attacked her, grabbing her by the throat and shouting "Follow my rules or I’ll kill you" Alarabiya reported. He then hit the girl on the head, causing injuries which she concealed under a veil. Rabiyah said" I thought I was going to die last night" according to the Manchester Evening News.

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