Shafilea family challenge verdict

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The parents of a murdered teenager who feared an arranged marriage are seeking a judicial review to overturn a coroner's verdict of unlawful killing.

The body of 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed was discovered on a Cumbrian river bank in 2004, six months after she vanished from her home in Warrington, Cheshire.

Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping her but were released without charge.

Mr Ahmed said they "disagreed with the decision of the Coroner's Court".

The coroner's office refused to comment as to what verdict the parents were hoping for.

'Vile murder'

Ian Smith, coroner for East and South Cumbria, told the inquest he believed Shafilea had not run away but had been taken from her home and suffered a "vile murder".

The four-day inquest held in Kendal heard that Shafilea was so frightened that she was to be married off to a distant relative in Pakistan that she ran away from home and sought emergency accommodation.

During a subsequent family visit to Pakistan she drank bleach as a "desperate measure to get herself out of a situation she didn't want to be in", the coroner said.

Shafilea's parents denied that any plans had been made for her to be married off and said she was free to pursue her studies.

Live inquiry

They failed to report her missing in September 2003 and said this was because police had dismissed previous reports she had gone missing.

She was found on the banks of the River Kent in Sedgwick in February 2004.

The application for a judicial review was lodged at the Administrative Court in London.

A court spokesman said a single judge would decide within the next two weeks whether there was a reason to have a judicial review.

The Ahmeds have the right to renew their application for a judicial review if it is dismissed by a single judge.

Cheshire Police continue to treat the teenager's death as a live murder inquiry.