Shafilea Ahmed: Unlawfully Killed

Another tragedy reported today by the BBC is that of 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed, whose body was found on a Cumbrian riverbank in 2004 after she went missing in September 2003. At the inquest the coroner has ruled that she was unlawfully killed and said that he "believed the concept of an arranged marriage was "central" to the circumstances leading up to her death". I can't say whether the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 would have saved her if it had been passed before her death, but the case is another clear demonstration of the need to protect individuals against the appalling concept of forced marriage.