Family of ‘Harry Potter’ actress charged with threatening to kill her over boyfriend:
The strict Muslim father and brother of “Harry Potter” actress Afshan Azad have been charged with threatening to kill her because she has a boyfriend.
Azad, 22, fled the suburban English home she shared with her father, Abdul, 54, mother, Nilofar, and three brothers after the bizarre incident on May 21, authorities said.
A spokesman for prosecutors said her brother Ashraf, 28, physically attacked her and both he and their father threatened to kill her because of her relationship with an unidentified Hindu man.
They confronted her in her bedroom and left her “badly bruised” when she refused to stop seeing the man, the Daily Express said.
Cultural values differ. Whatever happened with never hitting a woman? Well, the following indicates that Afshan Azad’s family have a different set of values:
No other details of the incident were disclosed. But Ashraf told the Daily Telegraph that the family will suffer as a result of the scandal.
“We are going to get trouble from the community now,” he said. “It is bad news for our safety, her safety.”is
“Her career could be ruined. When she goes to a premiere or something, they are going to ask her about this, not the film,” he added.
“My younger brother is going to get harassed at college,” Ashraf said. “All our family is going to be harassed by the community because of this.”
This is of course the culture of shame and honor. Afshan Azad’s brother seems more concerned about word getting out about her dalliance with a Hindu man, and how badly it will reflect upon their family in the eyes of other Bangladeshis, than the fact that he apparently beat up his sister. This makes sense in light of his culture, in many societies, including the Bangladeshi one, extreme physical abuse of inferiors by superiors is accepted as a normal part of life.