Day of Memory 2026- remembering Shafilea Ahmed

The Day of Memory was created by Human Rights and Honour Based Abuse charity Karma Nirvana and nationally recognised to remember Shafilea Ahmed. 
 
Shafilea was murdered by her parents in Warrington in 2003 aged 17, for refusing a forced marriage. 

Here is Shafilea’s story… 

Shafilea Ahmed was born on 14 July 1986 in Bradford. Soon after her birth she moved to Warrington, Cheshire with her parents Iftikhar and Farzana. 

Sharifa made friends, attended school, and had dreams of studying law, but unfortunately, her parents had other plans.  

In February 2003, she was drugged and taken to Pakistan to be forced into an arranged marriage. After an attempt at resistance caused serious damage to her throat, she was hospitalised in Pakistan.  

After returning to the UK, she was re-hospitalised and spent her 17th birthday in a ward.  

In September 2003, just one week after she had enrolled in college to continue her studies, she was murdered in an honour based killing in front of her siblings.  

A police investigation was launched after her teachers reported her missing, and in 2012 her parents Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed were both convicted of her murder and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.  
 
Today, Tuesday 14 July, is Shafilea's birthday and this year she would have been 40 years old. Today we remember her and all those other victims who have died as a result of honour-based abuse. 
 
Suzanne Jackson MBE, Honour Based Abuse force lead said: "Today we remember Shafilea and her story.  

“Forced marriages are still happening in the UK. To stop this, we will not hesitate to apply to court to obtain Forced Marriage Protection Orders as a preventative measure, not just from an engagement, promise or a wedding ceremony, but to prevent repeated rapes and pregnancies. 
  
"Forced marriages should not be happening between parties of any age. If there is no free consent from either party, then this is a forced marriage. 
  
"For children, the Marriage and Civil Partnership Act 2022, makes this very clear. No one under the age of 18 should be getting married or being taken out of the country for marriage. Our force will take positive action in every case to prevent this from happening. 
 
"Our stance is that no child should be even having to think of marriage." 
  
If you have concerns about a forced marriage or have concerns for someone else, then please reach out. You can report information to us online, via live chat or by calling 101.  

Or contact Karma Nirvana here:  Karma Nirvana 

For persons already taken abroad for marriage , please contact the Forced Marriage Unit for support via 0207 008 0151.