LEICESTERSHIRE GIRL SAVED FROM FORCED MARRIAGE AS POLICE SECURE PROTECTION ORDER

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicestershire girl saved from forced marriage as police secure protection order

Detectives have secured a groundbreaking court order against the family of a teenage girl who was tricked into going abroad and forced to marry a stranger.

The 16-year-old, from Loughborough, sought help from the police after she was taken to Bangladesh in November.

Officers said she was told she was going to a family wedding – but found it was to be her own.

Family members threatened to abandon her in Bangladesh if she refused to marry the older man they had chosen.

Officers said the youngster, who is not being named, contacted police on her return when her family tried to make her sign papers that would allow her husband to move here.

The police went to Leicestershire County Court within two days of her complaint to secure the force's first Forced Marriage Protection Order.

They put the girl in safe accommodation in a location unknown to her family and used the order to seize her passport so she cannot be removed from the country.

Every member of her family has been banned from harassing her for two years. If they breach the order, they could face up to two years in jail.

Detective Constable Keeley Mansell said details had been released in the hope those in similar situations would seek help.

Det Con Mansell said: "Many people are not aware this legislation exists or that we can use it even after someone has been forced to marry. Here, we have been able to use it to protect a vulnerable girl.

"If anyone is experiencing a similar situation, we will do everything we can to help."

Sgt Kev Wright, from the police's domestic abuse team, said: "Consent is essential to all marriages.

"The new legislation gives individuals – female and male – who find themselves being forced into a marriage a way to protect themselves and their future without criminalising their family."

Det Con Mansell, Sgt Wright and colleague Det Con Clare Hill all received a Chief Constables Certificate of Service Excellence this week for their work.

The police's domestic abuse investigation officer can be contacted on 0116 222 2222, extension 4022.