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Arranged marriage husband accused of rape
A YOUNG woman who accuses her husband of a series of violent rapes and beatings phoned a former boyfriend in Bangladesh telling him she planned to get her sister to end her arranged marriage.
Sheffield Crown Court heard the woman, aged 20, had been in a relationship with a 30-year-old man in her home country for over two years before she was entered into an arranged marriage with a man from Sheffield and flown to the UK to live.
Speaking to jurors in Sheffield via a live video link from Bangladesh, the ex-boyfriend told the court he met the woman in 2005 when they were both studying at a government college.
He said they had a relationship for two-and-a-half years and "loved each other very much", and said when he found out about the woman's arranged marriage in 2007 he was "very upset".
The man broke down as he described to the court receiving a phone call from his former girlfriend before her husband, from Darnall in Sheffield, was arrested on suspicion of rape.
He told the court she said she had "many problems" with her husband and she was "not happy".
Jurors also heard from the accused man's brother, who said his brother believed his young wife had a "secret boyfriend" in Bangladesh.
The defendant's brother said she had denied the accusation to her husband, but admitted to him that she did have a boyfriend but would not contact him again.
The woman's husband, who cannot be named to protect his wife's identity, denies rape, attempted rape, assault by beating, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The trial continues.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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