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November 4, 2005

UK: Oxford - Muslim Honour Killing - Guilty Verdicts Bring Cheers

We brought you earlier the tragic tale of a love affair between two young people, which should have been allowed to continue, but for a possessive and ruthless Muslim father. He desired for his daughter to undergo an arranged marriage with a man who would have been, to her, a stranger. The father's rage and backward pride led to a young man's savage killing.

The couple in love were Manna Begum and Arash Ghorbani-Zarin, a promising student at Oxford Brookes University. The girls father, Chomar Ali, a Bangladeshi waiter in Oxford was so incensed at the relationship that he took all efforts to prevent his daughter from leaving the house unescorted. Manna ran away, and stayed with a friend's aunt. She became pregnant by Arash, and her lover gave up his promising academic career to work in a toy shop, so that he could be a father and provider for the child. He would proudly show off the ultra-sound scans of Manna's tummy, with their baby inside.

Arash (pictured below) was a well-liked intelligent young man. A statement from his University, written by Dean Dr Denise Morrey shortly after his death was announced, reads "We were all very shocked to hear of Arash's death. He was a very diligent student who had made a great impact on people here, even though he had been at the University a relatively short time. He was a lively and polite young man who will be missed. We would like to extend our sympathy to his family and his many friends."

For a normal couple, there would have been a marriage. Arash's mother said tonight on Central ITV News that the pair should have been married. Mrs Ghorbani-Zarin also criticised arranged marriages, and said they should not be allowed. Manna's father was so insistent on arranging a marriage, to keep up appearances with the other Bangladeshi Muslims in his community, that when he found out that Manna was pregnant, he could do only one thing- retain the family's honour. This was achieved through an act of savage murder.

Today, the jury at Oxford Crown Court found Mr Ali and two of his sons (pictured, top) guilty of the murder of Arash Ghorbani-Zarin. He was stabbed 46 times in his green Renault car on November 20, 2004. After the killing, one of Ali's sons was seen on CCTV casually getting onto a bus, as if nothing had happened. During the trial, all three accused denied involvement in the killing. 19 year old "Muji" Rahman, the elder son admitted that the knife which was used in the attack belonged to him, but said it had gone missing before the murder. The blade tip had snapped off in the ferocity of the attack.

The prosecution claimed that it was probably the younger brother, Mamnoor Rahman, who had delivered the fatal blow to Arash. DNA evidence conclusively linked all three to the scene of the crime. Mamnoor was shown on television nonchalantly paying for his bus fare, less than half an hour after the attack.

The judge at the trial, Mr Justice Gross, according to the Times, stated that all three would receive life sentences. He adjourned the setting of jail term minimums until he had received pre-sentencing reports for Mamnoor Rahman, whose lawyer claimed he was "in denial". When the jury's guilty verdicts were read out, there were cheers.

A background on the trial, and the custom of "honour killing" can be found from the Times here

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 4, 2005 6:51 PM

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Posted by: Isabel de Castilla at November 4, 2005 9:27 PM

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