THE murder of Shafilea Ahmed is set to be featured in a new documentary.
Teenager Shafilea was murdered in front of her siblings by her own parents at the family home in Great Sankey in 2003.
Shafilea Ahmed
Now a new documentary, When Missing Turns to Murder, will explore the police investigation - from the 17-year-old being reported missing from her home on Liverpool Road to the discovery of her body in the Lake District and the conviction of Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed nearly a decade later.
A Great Sankey High School and Priestley College student, Shafilea was the victim of a brutal honour killing after her parents attempted to force her to marry her cousin in Pakistan.
The Ahmeds suffocated Shafilea to death by forcing a plastic bag down her throat, and she was later reported missing by her friends.
Forensic work at the Ahmeds' Liverpool Road home
Five months later, her body washed up in the River Kent in Cumbria after severe flooding.
While police had always suspected that Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed had killed their daughter, no evidence was found against them until Shafilea’s sister Alesha was involved in an armed robbery at their home six years later.
Alesha then confessed that she had witnessed her parents choking her sister because of her choice of western clothing, which they deemed to have brought shame on the family.
In 2012, the Ahmeds were convicted of Shafilea's murder and each jailed for a minimum of 25 years.
Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed
When Missing Turns to Murder screens on Monday, April 15, at 9pm on the Crime+Investigation channel.
A spokesman said: "This tragic story is told with compelling contributions from Shafilea's friends and the investigating officers involved, among shocking archive footage of Shafilea's parents during the missing persons investigation.
"Narrated by Broadchurch and Gunpowder star Shaun Dooley and produced by Phoenix Television, every story intimately shares the moment when a family changes forever – when a missing persons enquiry turns into a murder investigation.
"This powerful series reveals cases that haven’t been heard before in a respectful, true and compelling way."
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The police search for Shafilea
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