Almost nine years after 17 year old Shafilea's death, it has finally been known that her father had stuffed a plastic bag in the victim's mouth, holding it in until she stopped breathing. Her body was found six months later in the River Kent on Cumbria, 70 miles away from the family home in Warrington, Cheshire.
Muslim parents who murdered their daughter for failing to embrace her Pakistani culture were caught by a single nod described as “self-incriminating”. Body language experts analysed footage of Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed lying to the public about 17-year old Shafilea's disappearance in 2003, helping close the case.
Expert Cliff Lansley, who shared his findings on Investigation Discovery's 'Faking It: Tears of a Crime' said that the way Iftikhar moved his head in an up-and-down motion when he pressed on his involvement in the murder, denying all charges, is a significant indication of guilt. “He has got his eyes closed, his volume has dropped and we see the head nod yes. Slightly diagonal, but this is up and down,” he said. He said that by adding “I couldn't even dream of it” to his answer was his way of trying to further qualify his story, fearing his lies may be detected.
Iftikhar and Farzana were convicted following evidence given by Shafilea's sister after she was arrested for setting up a robbery on her own parents. Alesha said they had murdered her for failing to accept an arranged marriage and asked her siblings to keep silence if they did not want a similar fate. Following her testimony, both the parents were jailed for life. A judge ordered them to serve a minimum of 25 years.
