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Man hit wife in ‘honour crime’

25/ 3/2008

A MAN attacked his wife because she asked him to get out of bed and help take the children to school.

Hyndburn magistrates heard that Javed Iqbal, 28, repeatedly punched his wife and when she swore at him he resumed the attack.

He later told police that in his culture a husband should be given respect and it was expected he should behave as he did if his wife was abusive to him.

His wife said in her statement: "I’m no longer being used as a punch bag and it’s not fair my children witnessed this incident."

Iqbal, of Fountain Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to assaulting Nasreem Aziz. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Charlotte Crane, prosecuting, described the assault as an "honour crime".

She said Nasreem had got up early getting the children ready for school and her husband was in bed. She went up and pulled back the covers and asked if he could take the youngest child to school.

"He pulled the covers back and ignored her," said Miss Crane. "She pulled them back again and she says he went crazy.

"He jumped out of bed and began to punch her repeatedly. When she swore at him he said: ‘How dare you swear at me?’ and continued the attack."

Nazreem later told police she was scared of her husband and knew what he was capable of. She said she usually ran away so he couldn’t hurt her any more.

Ordering reports, District Judge Peter Ward said there had been a serious assault on a vulnerable victim.

"He says in interview he is entitled to respect from his wife and the honour issue is part of the totality," said Mr Ward. "But it is a two-way thing and a wife is entitled to respect from her husband. This was an attack on a vulnerable victim and custody can’t be ruled out."