Peterborough dad tried to force his daughter to marry against her will

Ahmed Zulfiqar, 44, of Peveril Road, Peterborough, was handed the order to run indefinitely back in May 2016.

The order was granted to protect his own daughter, who at the time was being kept in Pakistan with threats of marriage being made to her.

As part of the order Zulfiqar’s daughter, mother and brother were repatriated back to the UK.

The order prohibited Zulfiqar from contacting his daughter, who now lives in Peterborough, in any way.

On New Year’s Eve Zulfiqar’s daughter messaged the officer dealing with the case to say her father was due to visit her house at 11pm that night.

Officers visited her house where they found the pair together and Zulfiqar trying to flee by the back door.

Zulfiqar was arrested and in police interview, claimed he thought the order expired when his daughter reached the age of 18 and added he didn’t think the order was fair.

Despite this, he pleaded guilty to breaching a Forced Marriage Protection Order during a previous hearing and was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (29 June).

He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for two years. The order remains in place indefinitely.

DC George Neal, who investigated, said: “A Forced Marriage Protection Order can be put in place to protect someone from being forced into a marriage.

“We are committed to protecting vulnerable people in our society and this case is another example of that. Forced marriages are often a hidden form of domestic and honour abuse and will not be tolerated.

“This is a rare but precedent setting case and highlights that breaching a Forced Marriage Protection Order, imposed for very clear and significant reasons, leads to time in custody and before the courts.”