Who was Shafilea Ahmed? British-Pakistani girl murdered by parents Iftikhar and Farzana in an honour killing
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SHAFILEA Ahmed was a British-Pakistani girl who was murdered by her parents, Iftikhar and Farzana, as they believed that she wanted to live a “western” life. Her disappearance and death, which followed years of tragic abuse, will be examined in the ITV documentary Murder Without Honour.
![[Portrait of Shafilea Ahmed.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-o7yz0ncaw-1737642046899.jpg?1737642061&strip=all&w=960)
Shafilea's father Iftikhar Ahmed, was born in Pakistan but moved to the UK when he was 10 years old. During a visit to Denmark, he met a woman named Vivi Lone Andersen who he later married in 1980. The pair had a son together, named Tony, but Ahmed’s family disapproved of the union because Vivi had chosen to remain a Christian.
![[Mugshot of a man with a beard.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-ic31cjhsj-1737641957211.jpg?1737641991&strip=all&w=960)
Eventually, Ahmed returned to Pakistan where he was forced into an arranged marriage with his cousin Farzana Ahmed in 1985. After the ceremony, Ahmed persuaded Vivi to move to the UK with him but didn’t mention that he was already married. Vivi filed for divorce and the pair lost contact until Ahmed phoned her to say that his second wife had given birth to a girl named Shalifea who was born on July 14, 1986.
![[Woman wearing a brown sweater and tan scarf.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-jnlsiwu8q-1737642008049.jpg?1737642019&strip=all&w=960)
During her childhood, Shafilea suffered from child abuse. One of her teachers spotted a bruise on her arm, which she said was from a “beating” by her parents. In 2003, she ran away from home and told the council that “one parent would hold me whilst the other hit me”.
![[Missing person poster for Shafilea Ahmed, 17.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-ux57ua2g1-1737642065616.jpg?1737642087&strip=all&w=960)
Shafilea also feared being taken to Pakistan and forced into a child marriage. During a trip to her father’s home country in February that same year, Shafilea attempted suicide. According to media reports at the time, she also turned down a suitor in a forced marriage during the trip.
![[Photo of Shafilea.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-24bjzvfhj-1737642024226.jpg?1737642042&strip=all&w=960)
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