A 63-year-old woman was convicted on Tuesday of falsely imprisoning her three daughters-in-law, who moved from Pakistan with hopes of a happy life in England but were treated like "slaves and dogs". Prosecutors said Naseeba Bibi would not let the women leave the family home in Blackburn, northwest England, and made one of them work on an industrial sewing machine day and night between 1993 and 2006. The women were brought to Britain following arranged marriages to Bibi's three sons in Pakistan, but the court heard they were subjected to beatings and abuse from their mother-in-law after they arrived. "They were treated like children, slaves or dogs by a regime of threats of force or actual force," said prosecutor Philip Boyd during the trial.
In a police statement, Nagina Akhtar, who married Bibi's son Fahim and was held in the house in Blackburn for 13 years, said: "Bibi struck me with a brush handle and slapped me across the face whenever I disobeyed her orders."
Nagina's sisters, Nisbah and Tazeem -- who like their sibling did not speak English -- told the court their lives were "made hell". Tazeem was held between 2001 and 2003, when she was left behind when the family went to a wedding in Pakistan. Nisbah was held from 2005 and 2007, only escaping when Bibi was distracted.
Nisbah's husband, Nadeem Akhtar, told police he had wanted no part of the arranged marriage, as he already had a white partner in Blackburn. He was cleared of one count of falsely imprisoning his wife Nisbah but the jury continues to deliberate on an allegation that he assaulted his wife. Bibi denied assaulting any of her daughters-in-law, or imprisoning them. She is due to be sentenced on May 29.