The parents of a teenager from Leeds have been sentenced to a total of eight years for tricking their daughter into travelling to Bangladesh in order to force her into marriage.
The male defendant was jailed for four and a half years and the female defendant was jailed for three and a half years.
The defendants told their children in the summer of 2016 that they were travelling to Bangladesh for a holiday to visit relatives. Once they arrived in a remote village, the victim was told she was to be married to her cousin.
When she refused, her parents took her phone away and threatened her with violence if she did not agree to the marriage.
The British High Commission in Bangladesh, the Forced Marriage Unit, and Bangladeshi police worked together to rescue the victim and bring her safely back to the UK.
Detective Superintendent Pat Twiggs from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team led the investigation. He said: “A parent’s love for their child should be unequivocal and unconditional but they subjected their daughter to terrifying and harrowing ordeal.
“They threatened their own daughter with violence if she didn’t do as she was told, making reference to the fact that they had brought her up for 18 years with love, but that the dad would chop her up in 18 seconds if she disrespected him by not going through with the marriage.
“I don’t know how any parent can say that to their own child.
“I have previously paid tribute to the victim in this ordeal – she is a remarkable young woman who has had her life turned upside down at a relatively young age. Her family have turned their back on her and alienated her siblings from her, which I know has been devastating.
“It would have been easy for her at any point to have found this all too much, but she has remained resolute throughout.”
An NSPCC spokesman said: “This case sadly echoes what we hear at Childline, with increasing numbers of children - some as young as 13 - contacting the service worried about being forced into marriage.
“The emotional pressure and fears of violence that some victims face can lead them to run away from home, self-harm, or even contemplate taking their own lives.
“We hope today’s sentencing shows that young victims can come forward and will be supported when they bravely report what they have been coerced or deceived into doing.”
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