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The 'honour killing' of Shafilea Ahmed · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we're diving into a case today, real head
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  scratcher of first. It all starts in Warrington picture like oh,
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  normal family, you know, but behind the scenes total turmoil,
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  like a clash of cultures, a clash of wills, and
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  it ends up with seventeen year old Schaffile vanishing. And
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  that's what we're going to unpack in this deep dive.
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  What happened to Shaffie? Like how why we've got articles
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  research the whole shebang to really get to the bottom
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  of this case that honestly shook the UK. All right,
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  So it's September eleventh, two thousand and three. Schaefelee just disappears. Gone.
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  Teachers at are school. They're the first ones to raise
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  a red flag. She doesn't show up, so they report
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  a missing Police are called in. Investigations begin, but there's
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  no trace of her. Months go by. Imagine that, right,
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  they're not knowing, the hope starting to dwindle day by day.
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  Every parent's worst nightmare. Right Then February two thousand and
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  four rules around six long months after sheffilet A vanished,
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  and there's a discovery, a grim one. Her body turns
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  up miles away in Cumbria, And just like that, what
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  started as a minting person's case becomes a murder investigation.
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  Speaker 2: And this this is where the case takes this really
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  interesting turn because proving a crime even happened, it wasn't easy.
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  Let me tell you. They do two post mortems, two
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  and get this, both are inconclusive, not enough evidence to
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  say exactly how she died. On top of that, the
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  family silent, tight lipped, not saying a word.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, because you think back to those early press conferences,
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  the police were practically begging for information. Yeah, anyone who
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  knew anything, anything at all about Joffee Lea. They wanted
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  them to come forward, but it was like talking to
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  a wall exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And that silence, combined with, like you said, the forensic
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  dead ends, created a massive obstacle for the investigation. Really
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  shows you how hard it is to crack a case
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  when the people closest to the victim they just won't talk.
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  Speaker 1: So years go by, no real leads. It's like the
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  trail went cold and bam, twist. You wouldn't believe. Sheffilet's
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  younger sister, Elisha, remember her. She gets caught up in
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  some robbery and a related to totally separate thing, and
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  during questioning, what she reveals blows the whole case wide open.
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  Speaker 2: Things get really unbelievable here. Elisha, while she's being questioned
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  about this robbery, just comes out with it, admits to
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  seeing something no one should ever see. Her own sister, Sheffieliah,
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  murdered by their parents.
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  Speaker 1: And we're talking about someone who's been living with this,
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  this horrific knowledge for years. The weight of that.
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  Speaker 2: Secret, Oh absolutely, it's I mean, imagine the pressure, the fear.
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  This wasn't just a confession. It was like this huge
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  release for her, you know. And she goes into detail,
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  describes everything. It's tough to hear, honestly. She tells the
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  police that Shaffilia was held down by her parents and
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  they forced a plastic bag down her throat, suffocated her
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  and the other kids they were there too, good, hiding
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  scared to debt.
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  Speaker 1: That just adds this whole other layer, doesn't it. Those
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  poor kids witnessing that awful, just awful. It makes you
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  realize how much violence, how much trauma, can ripple through
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  a family.
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  Speaker 2: It's true. And there's something else that might surprise you
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  about all of this. While Alesha was dealing with this
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  keeping this horrible secret inside the police they were working
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  the case quietly, like behind the scenes. They were monitoring
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  the family no way. Yeah, they were listening in on
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  conversations hoping to catch something anything that could help them.
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  Speaker 1: Talk about dedication, tell me about it.
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  Speaker 2: But they were determined to get justice for Schaflea, even
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  with so little to go on, and you know their patients.
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  It did pay off. Maybe not how they thought it
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  would though, but they got if Tikar, Saphilia's father on
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  tape saying she ran away the night she disappeared. And
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  then for Zana, the mother, she broke down eventually admitted
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  she saw the beating, but she said she didn't say
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  anything because her husband threatened her.
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  Speaker 1: So basically a family full.
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  Speaker 2: Of secrets, totally years of lies, and right in the
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  middle of it, this young girl, her life cut short, tragic.
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  Speaker 1: So with delicious confession, I mean that just changed everything, right, Yeah, totally.
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  The case is going to trial. The whole country's watching, Yeah,
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  and the prosecution going with this honor killing motive. They're
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  saying her parents they thought Shaphilia, with her wanting a
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  more like western lifestyle, they thought it was shameful it's complicated.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, to really get what the prosecution was saying,
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  we have to look at the family dynamics, the cultural differences,
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  you know.
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  Speaker 1: Because it wasn't just about shaphilia wanting like the western life,
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  was it.
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  Speaker 2: No, No, definitely not. I mean she was a teenager, right,
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  she loved music, fashion like most teenagers.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, totally normal stuff exactly.
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  Speaker 2: She wanted to choose her own clothes, listen to modern music,
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  maybe have a boyfriend.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: But her parents, they had this whole other plan for her,
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  this very traditional life, an arranged marriage, the whole nine yards.
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  Speaker 1: And that's where that term honor killing it gets really tricky. Oh, absolutely,
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  because even though it's used in cases like this a lot,
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  we can't forget like understanding the culture, it doesn't make
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  taking a life okay.
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  Speaker 2: Ever never there's no excuse for it.
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  Speaker 1: No, not at all. And the judge he even said
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  something like that at the sentencing. He called what the
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  parents did unrealistic, destructive and cruel. Wow, like they were
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  so stuck on their traditions that had these like awful consequences.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. And what really gets me is I think it
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  was Shephila's friend she talked about all those years of
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  not knowing, just wondering, really makes you think about the
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  human cost, you know, right beyond the headlines and the courtrooms.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely yeah, I mean justice is one thing, but it
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  can't bring someone back, No, it can't. So we start
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  with this mystery, this wall of silence, and then Elisha,
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  she's the one who breaks it all open, her courage,
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  her willingness to speak up. That's how the truth came out.
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  Speaker 2: It's incredible and it makes you think, what can we
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  learn from this, this whole idea of honor based violence.
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  It often stays hidden. We need to be able to
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  recognize the signs, and we have to be able to
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  talk about these cultural differences openly, but always always remembering
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  that everyone has the right to be safe, to make
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  their own choices.
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  Speaker 1: To live their life exact well said and listeners. That's
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  something to consider. How can we, in our own lives
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  make sure that everyone feels safe, feels heard, feels respected.
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  We have to do better.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us for this deep dive. It's been
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  tough but important.
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  Speaker 1: It really has. Until next time,