Mrs Justice Parker at the Court of Protection described the ‘grossly cruel’ ordeal of the woman who has a reading age of seven
A British woman with serious learning difficulties married a Pakistani immigrant and had his baby as part of a plan to help him remain in the UK, a secret court heard.
The 37-year-old woman – who has a reading age of a child of seven – was even slapped around the face by her mother to force her to smile for the wedding photograph. On the day the couple attended a register office to give notice to marry, an anonymous caller rang the office to allege that her parents had been paid £20,000 to marry off their daughter to the Muslim student.
Incredibly, although registrars were concerned about the ‘demeanour and vulnerability’ of the bride and feared she was being ‘manipulated’ as part of a visa scam, the civil marriage went ahead two months later. By then, the woman was pregnant and she went on give birth to a boy. Her 33-year-old husband, from Lahore, is now using his human right to a family life to try to stay in the UK, and lawyers expect him to be granted indefinite leave to remain.
The case was heard earlier this year by the Court of Protection, which has the power to make life-or-death decisions on behalf of people deemed to lack mental capacity.
It emerged with the publication of an ‘anonymised’ judgment. In her ruling, Mrs Justice Parker said: ‘I think there is a very significant possibility that this marriage was entered into, and indeed this child created, for reasons solely to do with immigration status. ‘To inflict pregnancy and childbearing on a person who cannot consent to that state is about as gross a physical interference as can be imagined.
Tags: forced, forced marriage, forced marriage unit, halo project, haloproject, honour based violence, marriage, violence
