Charlton Resident Enters History Books As First Man Jailed In UK For Enslaving His Wife

by Benson Agoha | Woolwich

* Safraz Ahmed of Charlton was jailed for enslaving
his wife. (Credit: MP)

A Charlton resident has been jailed for enslaving his wife as a domestic servant at home, the London Metropolitan Police has revealed.

Safraz Ahmed, 34, of was jailed for a total of two years after he kept a woman as a domestic servant at his Charlton home.

Mr Ahmed of Elliscombe Road in Charlton, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, 1 April, for holding the woman in domestic servitude for nearly three years.

According a Police statement Safraz Ahmed held the women between December 2012 and August 2014 and eight months and assaulted her, causing her actual bodily harm.

He had earlier pleaded guilty at the same court a month earlier on Tuesday, 1 March. The sentences will run concurrently.

The successful conviction makes history as the Met prosecution is believed to be the first in the UK for the offence of conspiracy to hold a person in domestic servitude that involved two relatives.

It all began when Police were originally called to an address in Park Drive in Charlton, Greenwich, on 18 August 2014, following a 999 call from a woman alleging that she had been locked inside a property.

Sumara Iram Ahmed was rescued by officers and taken to a place of safety. On further interview, the 29 year old told officers that since January 2012, she had been kept as a domestic servant at the house in Elliscombe Road where Safraz Ahmed lived with other members of his family.

She said she was required to cook, clean, wash, iron and look after other people's children, and if this work was not done to the required standard, she was regularly beaten.

She said she was not allowed to leave the house alone and was not financially supported, other than being given £10 per month to top-up her phone.

On 18 August 2014 Ahmed was arrested and charged under section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

Three other people, Viseem Ahmed, 38 of Park Drive, Charlton; Deena Patel, 37 of Park Drive, Charlton, and Zarina Ahmed, 73 of Elliscombe Road, Charlton were later arrested in December 2014 and charged with conspiracy to hold a person in slavery, but were acquitted at Woolwich Crown Court of all charges after no evidence was offered against them.

Detective Sergeant Pal Singh, from Greenwich CID, said: "Ahmed kept Sumara in his home for the sole purpose of using her as a domestic servant. She was brought over to Britain having entered into an arranged marriage with him in Pakistan and thought she would live here as his wife. Instead she lived as his slave and was forced to carry out all the domestic duties in his home. If she didn't do this, she would be subjected to beatings."

"I am pleased that Ahmed has received a custodial sentence and this should act as a warning to other people who are thinking of using marriage as a means of enslavement. Sumara's right to a full family life has been destroyed and she can't return to her native country for fear of harm and retributions."