Murder of Rukhsana Naz

In 2007, she appealed against the minimum term set for her life sentence, this was also rejected and it was reaffirmed that she would serve a minimum term of 14 years. When handing down his judgement, Mr Justice Grigson noted that the trial judge had recommended a minimum term of 17 years and that this had already been reduced by the Lord Chief Justice "expressly on the basis that her cultural background mitigated the criminality of her act".

Shakeela Naz appealed against her conviction, this was duly dismissed on 23 March 2000.

Rukhsana's mother and two brothers went on trial at Nottingham Crown Court in May 1999. Shakeela Naz and the elder brother, Shazad Naz, were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Shakeela, Shazad and Iftikhar Naz stood trial at Nottingham Crown Court in May 1999, the trial lasted for two-and-a-half weeks. The key prosecution witnesses were Rukhsana's sister Safina, and Louise, the girlfriend of Iftikhar Naz.

Shazad Naz's partial defence of provocation, on the basis of religious and cultural beliefs, was rejected and he and Shakeela Naz were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on 25 May 1999. Iftikhar Naz was acquitted.

It was customary for the Naz family to get together for a family meal every week but, on 26 March 1998, Rukhsana called to say that she was unwell and wouldn't be attending. Her sister Safina claimed that Shakeela had dissuaded Rukhsana from attending due to concerns about other family members discovering her daughter's pregnancy, which had now started to show. Safina further stated that, at around 7:00 p.m., Shakeela suddenly claimed that she needed to visit someone in the hospital; she left the house with her two sons, returning alone just over an hour later.

Each of the three defendants gave differing accounts of exactly what transpired, but ultimately Rukhsana was strangled to death with a plastic flex and her body dumped some miles away in a field in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire. Her remains were found on 31 March 1998, less than 2 weeks from her 20th birthday.

Back in Derby, Rukhsana engaged in an affair with Imran who, by this stage, was also married; in late 1997 she fell pregnant with his child. She moved out of the family home, sharing a house with her sister Safina and brother-in-law, and hoped to have her baby, divorce Sajid and live with Imran.

In spring 1994, Rukhsana was taken to Pakistan under the guise of visiting her grandfather but whilst there was forced into an arranged marriage with her second cousin, Sajid Nawaz. Sajid remained in Pakistan pending a visa application, while a now pregnant Rukhsana returned to Derby. She made one further visit to Pakistan in 1996, which led to the birth of a second child, but essentially they lived apart throughout the entire marriage.

Rukhsana Naz (Urdu: رخسانہ ناز; 13 April 1978 – 26 March 1998) was a 19-year-old British Pakistani woman and mother-of-two from Normanton, Derby, who was murdered by family members in an honour killing.