03 September 2009

My mother hired a hitman to kill me: The shocking story of a Muslim woman whose parents disapproved of her Western lifestyle

The text message forwarded to me from my younger sister Saira was concise and chilling: 'Mum's sent a hit man to kill you,' it read. 'Be careful.' As I read those words, my first instinct wasn't fear or even shock, but simply survival.

I'd become accustomed to behaviour like this from both my parents - behaviour that anyone else would find abhorrent - and I was emotionally numb to their threats. But I also knew that my sister's warning was deadly serious and my life was in real danger. I'd been in hiding for several weeks when I received the text. [MailOnline] Read more