London doctor is held as forced marriage hostage

Race is on to release trainee GP lured to Bangladesh by family,held captive, beaten, and about to marry a stranger against herwill. Nina Lakhani reports

British lawyers were this weekend working frantically to rescue aLondon doctor who has been beaten and held captive in Bangladesh inan attempt to force her into marriage. Dr Humayra Abedin, known asDorothy to her friends, this weekend faces being forced to marry acomplete stranger, unless efforts by lawyers to free her, using newpowers, succeed.

Dr Abedin is being held hostage by her family in the Bangladeshicapital Dhaka, where she is thought to have been gagged, bound andviolently beaten to get her to comply with her parents' wishes. The33-year-old trainee GP is depressed, suicidal and without hope,according to an email she managed to send to a close friend lastFriday. This is the first time friends have heard from Dr Abedin formore than three months.

Her parents and uncle were yesterday served with a ForcedMarriage Order issued by the British High Court on Friday. DrAbedin, who has worked as a doctor in the Britain since 2002, isamong the first cases to be heard under the Forced Marriage Actwhich came into force on 25 November. The move came after the familyignored orders from the Bangladeshi high court to bring Dr Abedin tocourt.

The new legislation allows judges to issue protection orders toprevent forced marriage and help to rescue victims who have alreadybeen married off. Those convicted of forcing people into marriagecan be jailed for up to two years.

Anne-Marie Hutchinson, the barrister from Renaissance Chambersacting for Dr Abedin, said: "There are real concerns for the safetyof this young woman. It is understood that she is to be married thisweekend. The Forced Marriage Act offers protection to all residentsof this country. It makes it clear that because she lives here it isnot just a domestic matter for the Bangladesh authorities."

While the Act is not enforceable in Bangladesh, lawyers for DrAbedin are confident it will strengthen the resolve of theauthorities in Dhaka.

The only child of Mohammed Joynal Abedin, a retired businessman,and his wife, a housewife, Dr Abedin trained as a doctor inBangladesh and then came to England in 2002 to study at LeedsUniversity. She has since set up home in Leyton, east London ,whileworking in hospitals across the capital. Dr Abedin is described byfriends as an intelligent young woman who loves Bollywood films andHindi music. She is only a year away from qualifying as a GP.

Her Muslim family became incensed after she developed a closefriendship with a Hindu Bangladeshi man she met in London. SinceMay, they have made several attempts to keep her away from him andto force her into marriage. The Metropolitan Police launched aninquiry at the end of June, after she was held captive in her flatby her mother and uncle, who visited for several days. Her case hasalso been taken up by Interpol.

Her family duped her into returning to Bangladesh in August, byclaiming her mother was seriously ill. They then hid her passportand plane ticket, and have held her captive since 5 August. She hasbeen subjected to physical and psychological violence and deniedcontact with friends or lawyers. There are also unconfirmed claimsthat Dr Abedin has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital at thewishes of her parents, who have insinuated in court that herrelationship with a Hindu man is a sign of mental illness.

Deprived of any access to a telephone or internet, Dr Abedinsomehow managed to send an email to a close friend last Friday. Thetone of the email conveys the desperation of her plight. She wrote:"I wish I could see you once in my lifetime. This is the only wish Ihave. Most important thing is Please try to forgive me if you can. IAM SORRY. Please don't hate me. My life is already ruined. I don'tcare any more. I just want to end my life as nothing left to liveand look forward to. You are one of the best person. I will alwaysremember you. I wanted to grow old with you. It will never happennow."

Dr Abedin is one of hundreds of young British men and women whoare thought to be forced into marriages every year. In the firstnine months of this year, the Government's Forced Marriage Unit wascontacted by 1,308 concerned callers fearing they or someone closeto them might be forced into marriage. The unit directly helped 388of these victims - nearly twice as many as in 2007.

The Ministry of Justice minister, Bridget Prentice, said: "I amdelighted that the courts have already begun to make use of theForced Marriage Order to prevent forced marriage. This is verysignificant and demonstrates quite clearly that the Act will make areal difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable peoplein our society. I expect the Act to send a clear message that forcedmarriage is a fundamental abuse of human rights and will not betolerated. Forced marriage, like other forms of domestic violence,is underreported, so we do not know the full extent of the problem."

Lawyers acting for Dr Abedin's cousin are pursuing the case inBangladesh. The high court in Dhaka has for the fourth time orderedher parents and uncle - who are in contempt of court - to bring herbefore the judge on 14 December. The cousin, Dr Shipra Chaudhury, issaid to be under huge pressure to withdraw the petition.

The majority of British victims involve families of South Asianorigin, but there are cases from a range of countries includingSomalia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. Another protection order has beenissued for an 18-year-old girl who has been missing in Iraq for morethan a year.

Ms Hutchinson said: "Dr Abedin's case shows that even bright andeducated adult women can fall foul of these practices. Theseproceedings will not end until she is produced. If we are too lateand she has been married, it [the Forced Marriage Act] will help usto bring nullity proceedings for her."