The family from Leeds face jail after being the first in West Yorkshire to be convicted under new domestic violence legislation over the horrific death of 19-year-old Sabia Rani.

Sabia was murdered by her husband Shazad Khan in May 2006 following three months of physical abuse at his family's home in Leeds.

She had arrived from Pakistan just five months earlier for the arranged marriage. Khan's mother, Phullan Bibi, 52, his two sisters and Uzma Khan, 23, Nazia Naureen, 28, and her husband Majid Hussain all denied allowing the death of a vulnerable adult, by turning a blind eye to the attacks which left Sabia with horrific injuries usually only seen in car crash victims.

But there were dramatic scenes at Leeds Crown Court yesterday as the jury delivered their guilty verdicts.

Wailing, shouting and foul language rang out from the dock as the three women protested their innocence.

Uzma shouted: "I'm innocent, I'm not guilty, I'm not guilty."
Bibi, who had wept quietly, stood and shouted abuse in her native Punjabi and began slamming her hands down on the bench before collapsing.

During the three week trial Uzma Khan claimed that Sabia's catalogue of horrific injuries were brought on by evil spirits within her body.

The court heard how Sabia went through an arranged marriage with her cousin in December 2002, but moved to the family home in Oakwood Grange, Oakwood in December 2005.

On May 21 2006 the ambulance service were alerted after Sabia was found dead on the bathroom floor at her home.

Shazad Khan was jailed for life for murder in January 2007.

A post mortem examination showed Sabia's body had bruising on 85 per cent of her body. Her bodily systems had broken down and she had 10 fractured ribs.

The jury heard that Sabia, who could not speak a word of English, would have been in extensive pain.

Simon Myerson QC, prosecuting, said: "No one could have been in the same house without knowing that she was in severe pain. The defendants clearly ignored what was obvious, that she was being beaten by her husband and that she was in severe pain."

Prof Christopher Millroy, who carried out the post mortem, told Khan's trial that Sabia's injuries were similar to those suffered by victims of "catastrophic" road accidents.

The court heard that during the three weeks before Sabia's death it would have been apparent that she was ill and in pain.

She was not taken to her doctor nor the local hospital.

Mr Myerson said: "Shazad Khan beat her and the seriousness was that if she did not get treatment she would not get better."

All four defendants were granted overnight bail and will appear before the court again so dates for sentencing hearings can be arranged.

But judge James Stewart warned the defendants that jail was likely.
He said: "This does not mean that the defendants will escape jail, the overwhelmingly likely result after a jury conviction is an immediate custodial."

After the hearing, Det Supt Steve Fear, who led the investigation, said: "This is an important conviction because Sabia Rani came to this country expecting to have a life she could share with her husband and her family.

"Instead she was brutally beaten from head toe.

"That was systematic abuse that could have been prevented, firstly, by her husband and secondly by the family. Both failed in their duties.

"Other people have a duty to act to look after vulnerable people such as Sabia."

Malcolm Taylor, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This is the first case in West Yorkshire and one of the very first cases in the whole of England and Wales where the provisions of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 have been used after the death of a 'vulnerable adult'.

"The message must be that if families or other people with a duty to look after those who need protection deliberately choose not to do so, their neglect will not be ignored by the law enforcement agencies, and prosecution will follow."

Lonely death amid the silence