Escape through marriage?

Some years ago I knew a woman who had been subject to horrible abuse as a child and young teen.

After she failed to get help from the outside (no one believed her) she escaped by marrying very young. It seems almost beyond belief that such situations continue today but it seems they do.

Kingston canal victim made several attempts to marry: report

National Post

Zainab Shafia -- the eldest daughter of Mohammad Shafia, one of the alleged murderers in the Kingston canal tragedy -- made as many as three attempts to get married before she, her two sisters, and another relative were killed, allegedly at the hands of her parents and brother.

In an interview with The Gazette, a 26-year-old Montreal man said he and Zainab Shafia were married in a religious ceremony at a mosque in St. Léonard in May. The wedding was never officially registered with the province of Quebec because both his family and Zainab Shafia's disapproved of the union.

The couple decided not to register the wedding that day after it took place, he said adding he believes Zainab was engaged to another man at some point last year.

According to Sun Media, Zainab, 19, was about to announce her engagement to another man, a 27-year-old Montrealer, on July 1. She was found dead inside a car discovered submerged in the Rideau Canal on June 30. The bodies of her two younger sisters -- Sahari, 17 and Geeti, 13 -- were also found inside the car along with the body of Rona Amir Mohammad, Mohammad Shafia's first wife.

Mohammad Shafia, his second wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, and their 18-year-old son Hamed Shafia all face four counts each of first-degree murder and conspiracy in Kingston court.

A relative of the 27-year-old Montrealer declined to be interviewed by The Gazette last week. He said he would have something to say after the trial is over.

Relatives of Rona Amir Mohammad have alleged that her husband felt his oldest daughter had disgraced his family by her behaviour in Canada. They also alleged the homicides were carried out as so-called honour killings. The family, originally from Kabul Afghanistan, moved to St. Léonard from Dubai two years ago.

Montreal Gazette