A cruel mother-in-law treated her sons' wives as 'slaves and dogs' and made one of them work on a sewing machine day and night for 13 years, a court heard .The three women came to the UK from Pakistan as part of arranged marriages and were allegedly kept as prisoners in the family house in Blackburn, Lancashire, against their will.
Preston Crown Court was told that Naseebah Bibi, 63, ruled the household with a regime of beatings and threats as she 'totally dominated' her victims.
One daughter-in-law was ordered to work on an industrial sewing machine from early in the morning to just before midnight every day as soon as she arrived at the house in 1993.
The prosecution said her ordeal only ended in 2006 when her three-year-son told nursery staff that his grandmother was the cause of bruising on his mother's hands.
Mother-of-five Bibi is alleged to have falsely imprisoned Nagina Akhtar between 1993 and 2006, Tazeem Akhtar from 2001 to 2003 and Nisbah Akhtar between 2005 and 2007.
Bibi's son denies Nadeem Akhtar falsely imprisoning his wife Nisbah between 2005 and 2007.
Philip Boyd, prosecuting, said all three women had high expectations of a happy family life in England when they married their first cousins in Pakistan, but instead on their arrival they were abused and allowed no contact with the outside world.
He said: 'Tazeem Akhtar came expecting to live with her husband and have children, something she had dreamed of. Her dream was doomed.'
On her first day in Blackburn she learned that her husband, Nahim, already had a partner - a white woman - and two children.
Mr Boyd said: 'He had no intention of living as her husband. He effectively had his own life.
'She was treated like a slave. She was ignored by her husband and exploited by her mother-in-law.'
In her 18 months at the address - two houses converted into one - she was only allowed to leave the property once to visit a relative.
Sporadic phone calls were monitored by Bibi, she was not permitted to register with a doctor and her passport and travel documents were taken from her, Mr Boyd said.
Her daily routine was 'gruelling' as she was made to do all the housework for the family and was even forced to wash all clothes by hand in cold water despite the presence of a washing machine.
'If Tazeem disobeyed, she was beaten, screamed at and sworn at,' Mr Boyd told the jury.
Bibi would allegedly strike her on the arms and legs with a slipper and pull her hair, she only ate when given permission by Bibi and could only have one cup of tea per day.
In 2003 Bibi took Tazeem for a 'holiday' to Pakistan but instead she was effectively 'dumped' in the country and was unable to leave because her visa had expired.
Nagina Akhtar married Bibi's son Fahim but as soon as she came to England in 1993 was ordered by Bibi to spend her time sewing.
Mr Boyd said: 'She was ordered to sew for money all day, every day. She received no money as Naseebah Bibi took it away.'
Her daily task continued unbroken for eight years until the birth of her first child but even then Bibi stepped in and took care of the youngster so Nagina could 'carry on sewing', he added.
On one occasion, after Bibi's daughter slapped Nagina, she told a neighbour what had happened.
When Bibi found out, she told her daughter-in-law: 'How dare you leave the house. If you leave do it again, I will break your legs.'
The court was told that the authorities were alerted following the boy's remarks at the nursery and Nagina and her three children were taken to safety.
In December 2005, Nisbah Akthar came to Blackburn following her marriage to Bibi's son Nadeem in 2003.
Again she was allegedly not permitted to use the telephone, was beaten up and 'totally dominated' by her mother-in-law.
She said she escaped the house in October 2007 when she distracted Bibi and slipped out unnoticed where she got the attention of a neighbour.
When interviewed by police, Nadeem Akhtar said there had been no effective contact between the couple since her arrival although they lived in the same house.
He told detectives the arranged marriage was sorted out by his parents and had 'nothing to do with me'.
He denies falsely imprisoning his wife between 2005 and 2007.
Bibi claimed that her daughters-in-law were all 'happy', 'had no problems' and were lying for different reasons.
She accused Tazeem of stealing from the family, Nagina of not wanting the family to have access to her children and Nisbah of not wanting to go back to Pakistan.
Whenever visitors came to the house, the women were given clean clothing to wear to keep up appearances, the jury was told.
On one occasion Bibi was said to have told Nagina while she worked on the sewing machine that 'daughters-in-law should remain in the four walls of the house'.
Mr Boyd said: 'This is not about clashes of culture or how women should behave. Fundamentally, every single person in this country, whether they are born here or they are on a day trip, are subject to the same responsibilities and protections afforded by English law.
'In this case what these defendants have done, the prosecution allege, is to break the law.
'They abused deliberately and cruelly the people who were supposedly close to them.
'In the case of Naseebah Bibi, over a long period of time she has been exploiting very vulnerable young women.
'Nisbah and Tazeem, they were in limbo. They had been rejected by their husbands. They could not speak English. They could not go back to Pakistan. They were exploited by the defendant for her own purposes.'
Bibi denies all charges
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