19-year-old Shahena Uddin’s unfathomable death was finally given justice. On Monday, her sister-in-law, Salma Begum was convicted of murder.
BBC reports that Begum was sentenced to life imprisonment after beating Uddin to death in their home in October 2014. The victim, a resident of Watford, was seen unconscious following 54 injuries and was left to die as she choked on her own vomit.
Her sister-in-law, Begum, denied the murder accusation but was convicted at St. Albans Crown Court. She will be serving 18 years of incarceration.
Shahena’s five other siblings will also face jail time.
Begum’s husband and Shahena’s eldest brother was acquitted of murder but charged with manslaughter. He was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in jail for causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.
The remaining three brothers were convicted of the same charge and will serve six and a half years in prison. The youngest will face five years for the same charge.
Begum and the rest of Shahena’s siblings were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by attempting to impede police investigation.
According to statements heard during the trial, Shahena has suffered extreme mental and physical abuse for a prolonged period of time while she was living with her family.
"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,” said Detective Inspector Fraser Wylie - from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit in a report from Telegraph UK.
Wylie questioned Uddin’s family members whose violence and mental abuse was “beyond comprehension”.
"Shahena Uddin suffered unimaginable abuse both physically and mentally which was tantamount to torture,” he further commented.
It was learned that Shahena had been living in agony and isolation for months. She has been denied to drink water, was forced to drink toilet water and to eat her own feces as a punishment.
Police also found letters of Shahena begging her tormenter to let her go. In a report from the Daily Mail UK, the victim drew a heart and a broken heart with a caption of “before” and “after”.
“Shina is bad and does not deserve to live in this bad world. Shina RUINED everyone's life and happiness. I don't know how this all happened in a few hours. RUINED EVERYTHING. RUINED EVERYONE'S HAPPINESS. UPSET EVERYONE. WHY?,” Uddin wrote to Begum.
The other letter, Shahena addressed Begum as ‘Afa’. She said: “It hurts when you call me a cow and a rat-dog. I am suffering. I have no one to tell so please can you help me. Afa I will put my head in the toilet for you just to forgive me. Please Afa I really need you.”
The death of Shahena Uddin is another case that should call for the government’s attention in raising awareness against domestic abuse. Nonetheless, Uddin’s life may have been brief but justice has given her the freedom to finally rest in peace.
