Shahena Uddin: Family members sentenced in 'harrowing' domestic abuse case

Ms Uddin's sister-in-law was sentence to life for murder, while five other family members were also jailed

Alexander Sehmer
Tuesday 22 December 2015 16:33 GMT
Shahena Uddin died after suffering severe injuries, she had been subject to physical and mental abuse by family members
Shahena Uddin died after suffering severe injuries, she had been subject to physical and mental abuse by family members

A woman who beat her teenage daughter-in-law to death has been jailed, along with five members of the girl's family, in what a senior detective described as one of the most harrowing cases of domestic abuse he had seen.

Shahena Uddin, 19, died after suffering severe injuries and choking to death on her own vomit.

Over the course of the trial the court heard that Ms Uddin had suffered mental and physical abuse at the hands of her family, including being forced to drink toilet water and eat her own faeces.

She was found dead on a bathroom floor in her family home in Watford in October last year.

Salma Begum, 33, Ms Uddin's sister-in-law, denied murder, but was convicted at St Albans Crown Court and must serve a minimum of 18 years in prison.

Begum's husband, Suhail Uddin, who was Ms Uddin's elder brother, was acquitted of murder but was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and was sentenced to seven years.

He was also sentence to three years for conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

Salma Begum (top left) was convicted of murder

Three brothers were also convicted on charges of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and conspiring to pervert the course of justice - Jhuhal Uddin, 33 was sentenced to nine years; Jewel Uddin, 27, was sentenced to eight years; and Tohel Uddin, 24, was sentence to six and a half years.

Ms Uddin's sister, Rehena Uddin, 22, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and conspiring to pervert the course of justice, and sentenced to five years.

Detective Inspector Fraser Wylie from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: "In all my years as a detective, this case has been possibly one of the most harrowing cases of domestic abuse I have dealt with.

"How any person can inflict such violence and mental abuse on someone is beyond comprehension - and even more so when those inflicting that abuse are members of a family who were supposed to have a duty of care.

He described the 'punishments' inflicted on Ms Uddin by her family as "extremely disturbing".

(Additional reporting by agencies)

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