{"id":4439,"date":"2025-04-14T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/?p=4439"},"modified":"2025-04-15T11:35:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:35:58","slug":"i-was-nearly-beaten-to-death-by-family-for-fleeing-my-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/i-was-nearly-beaten-to-death-by-family-for-fleeing-my-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"I was nearly beaten to death by family for fleeing my marriage\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Nina\t<\/div>
Nina endured years of abuse (Picture: Nina\u00a0Aouilk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Life for Nina Aouilk was always different. While her two older brothers were given freedom and treated as valued members of the family, she was groomed for servitude and expected to uphold her family\u2019s honour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was disowned at birth, if I’m honest. When they realised they had a daughter instead of a son,’ Nina, now 55, tells Metro<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

From the age of six, she says she was responsible for serving her family and instructed not to make eye contact or to be heard. At school, she was also treated with disdain. \u2018I was always the \u201cdirty\u201d girl, I didn\u2019t have a lunchbox and I don\u2019t remember being fed, but nobody questioned anything,’ she recalls.<\/p>\n

One of the few people of colour at school,\u00a0Nina\u00a0endured racial bullying and even encountered prejudice within her community, deepening her isolation. \u2018I was too fair and well-spoken in comparison to some of the other people from my culture. I didn’t belong at home or at school. I was caught between two cultures, with no sense of where I fit in.\u2019<\/p>\n

At 14, things took an even darker turn<\/a>. When serving food to her father and his friends, the atmosphere was tense and they were drinking excessively, she recalls. \u2018I instinctively knew something bad was going to happen. I was thrown onto a table, punched and my nose was broken. What followed was a brutal group sexual attack. Something I buried until I was 50,’ says\u00a0Nina, who now runs the grassroots charity\u00a0End\u00a0Honour\u00a0Killings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The following year, in 1986, she entered an arranged marriage aged 16<\/a> to one of the perpetrator\u2019s sons. Nina describes suffering extreme abuse in her marital home, claiming she was forced to eat from the dustbin and tied up with a metal coat hanger until she bled. When she turned 18, a registered marriage was formalised.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
From a very young age Nina was told not to make eye contact or to be heard (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I felt like I was tortured in so many ways,\u2019 she says. \u2018At home I at least had my own room for security, whereas [in the marital home] I had no door, living under the stairs. I had nothing. Psychologically that affected me hugely. For the first time in my life, I started to hate who I was.\u2019<\/p>\n

By the time Nina was 21, a work friend mentioned that their parents had become more accepting of interracial dating, a taboo in her Indian culture. \u2018I thought, “wow, her parents must have changed”, so maybe mine had too. I wanted to believe that. I didn’t think I could walk out until someone suggested it.\u2019<\/p>\n

It gave Nina the courage to escape her marriage and return home. \u2018I romanticised another reality because I wanted it to be true – I wanted to go home and to be looked after,’ she admits. ‘But then I realised it was the biggest mistake I\u2019d made.\u2019<\/p>\n

When she arrived at her family\u2019s doorstep, Nina furious family told she had \u2018tarnished\u2019 their  honour, as she had rejected an arranged marriage which would bring shame to the family.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tThis Is Not Right\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

On November 25, 2024 Metro<\/strong> launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.<\/p>\n

With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.<\/p>\n

You can find more articles here<\/a><\/strong>, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n