A teenage girl was forced to lick the toilet bowl and eat her own faeces as punishments before being killed by members of her family, a court heard on Monday.
Shahena Uddin, 19, allegedly received beating for incurring the anger of her older siblings.
A jury was told the punishments included being made to stand for long periods staring into a toilet bowl, being made to lick the toilet bowl or seat, and being forced to eat faeces, vomit and paper.
It was claimed that the teenager wasn’t allowed to use the lavatory at the home in Watford and on occasions she was forced to use a sink.
But last October she is said to have endured a number of beatings during the course of a night, suffering head wounds and injuries to her body.
Ambulance staff called to the house by the family the next morning found her lifeless body in the bathroom.
By then, said Stuart Trimmer QC prosecuting at St Albans crown court, her four brothers, a sister and her two sisters-in-law who were at the house at the time had mounted a coverup operation.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
The prosecutor said blood and vomit stains had been concealed and bloodstained clothing belonging to Shahena had been placed in bin bags and put outside.
Ambulance staff were told Shahena had felt sick and fainted.
Mr Trimmer said: “That was untrue, she had been beaten with weapons during the previous 24 hours.”
On trial are Shahena’s brother Suhail Uddin, 35, and his wife Salma Begum, 32, who both pleaded not guilty to her murder in October last year at the family home in Leavesden Road, Watford.
With them in the dock are the dead girl’s three other brothers, Jewell, 27, Jhuhal, 33 and Tohel Uddin, 24, who all deny, along with Salma Begum, causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.
Shahena’s sister Rehena Uddin, 22, also pleaded not guilty to causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and Laila Begum, 25 who is the wife of Jhuhal Uddin denies causing or allowing the death death of a vulnerable adult.
At the start of the trial Mr Trimmer said: “Shahena died at the hands of members of her own family in her own home. She probably endured several beatings that night, some in the dining area, some in her own bedroom”.
He said both sides of Shahena’s head had been beaten and he added: “There were severe targeted beatings in particular to her breasts, probably with fists and weapons”.
The prosecutor said a pathologist who examined the dead girl’s body concluded she had choked on her own vomit.
Mr Trimmer then told the jury: “This was a troubled family unit held together by internal discipline of an extreme variety. In this household punishments of various types were commonplace, beatings were common place.”
In 2010 her older brother Suhail and his wife Salma became the legal guardians of Shahena and two other sisters.
“Shahena was a vulnerable young person. She suffered abuse and violence at the hands of her own family. The regime of brutality and extreme violence was so deeply embedded and feared, that she could not risk the results of any form of complaint to the outside world,” said Mr Trimmer.
He went on: “You will hear she had spoken to school friends on what happened to her. When they tried to complain on her behalf, she was obliged, for fear of worse to come, to deny what she had said to those school friends.”
Mr Trimmer said “offences” in the house of eating at the wrong speed or not eating her food were “visited with various strange and offensive punishments.”
He said she was struck with a Wii baseball bat, a mop handle and a glow stick.
The jury were told she would be forced to stand for long periods in front of a toilet bowl, made to lick the the seat, made to eat her own faeces and vomit and even pieces of paper.
The court heard it was the men who dealt out the punishments and another young sibling told police she and her sisters were forced to eat too much rice “if they didn’t eat nicely”.
The girl said Shahena wasn’t allowed to use the lavatory at the house and would sometimes use the sink which would get her into more trouble.
She said Salma and Tohel had previously beat Shahena and had used weapons.
The youngster, said Mr Trimmer, told police she had been told to bend over the loo for an hour, hit herself, lick the toilet seat and forced to drink the water from the lavatory.
All four of the male defendants she said had struck her.
Mr Trimmer said the girl told investigators Shahena had spoken of running away and she said the older girl had made suicide attempts.
The case continues.
