Asian slavbrides

Hundreds of women who came to the UK from South Asia to marry say they have been treated as domestic slaves by their in-laws, the BBC has learned.
The women complaining of being treated as slaves by their families come from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

One woman in her 20s, says she was imprisoned by her mother-in-law for three years at their house in the north of England. She does not want to be named.

She has now started to come to terms with her ordeal, a year after her mother-in-law was prosecuted, but she says she still lives with the fear inside her.

"One day my mother-in-law beat me up really badly," she says.

"There was a lot of blood coming out of my mouth and nose - I couldn't tell anyone, call anyone or go anywhere.

"I used to get up at dawn and clean the whole house, scrub the floors, clean the windows, do the washing, cook. In between I'd have to sew."

She tried to kill herself twice. Eventually she managed to escape after her mother-in-law left her bedroom door unlocked.

"Staying inside all the time, not being allowed to watch TV or go out... I thought I'd rather be dead than live like this."


Another woman, also in her 20s explained: "If I made tea, it was for her or someone else. I didn't have permission to drink tea with them because in the 15-20 minutes it would take, housework would not get done.

"She would swear at my family, and accuse me of taking things. If any money or jewellery had been misplaced I would get the blame."

She, too, was not allowed to speak to anyone outside of the family and was not allowed to go out by herself.

"Even a servant is allowed to have a break, but I was used like a machine," she recalls.