A Charlton man who forced his wife to be his servant, while beating and abusing her, has been jailed for two years in a landmark legal case.

Safraz Ahmed, 34, of Elliscombe Road, physically and verbally abused Sumara Iram, making her carry out household chores for him and his family.

Ms Iram, 28, was expected to cook and clean from 5am until midnight each day.

The ordeal led her to try and take her own life through an overdose of painkillers.

Ahmed pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to keeping his wife in domestic servitude and causing actual bodily harm.

The couple married in Pakistan in 2006 and Ms Iram came to the UK in 2012 after completing a masters degree in Islamic studies.

Prosecutor Caroline Haughey told the court Ahmed came to police attention after neighbours saw Ms Iram running from the house in February 2014.

Miss Haughey said: "Terrified by his behaviour, she begged him to stop and ran from the house.

"She was dragged back to the house by her husband and his mother.

“She was told to lock herself in the bathroom, and then told to hide herself in the garden shed. She came out when she believed the police had left the premises."

Neighbours, who had never seen Ms Iram before, described seeing her being dragged by her hair and hearing screaming.

The court was told Ahmed was saying “I'm going to kill you, I'm going to f***ing kill you.”

Under pressure from family, Ms Iram did not press charges.

The court heard Ahmed told his wife “you are scared of being alone but you are not scared of my beatings."

On one occasion in August 2014 he grabbed her neck and shoved a cushion in her face, the court was told.

He later threw a tin of cat food at her head and smashed her phone against the wall.

She had a black eye and suffered damage to her nose, which required surgery.

Miss Haughey told the court Ms Iram was given £10 a month with which to keep in contact with her family.

She was not allowed out unsupervised and the family rang her up every 10 minutes to make sure the house phone was not engaged.

There were restrictions on her “food, drinks, laughing, crying, clothing and she was not allowed to eat with guests”, Miss Haughey told the court.

The marriage had not been consummated and when in March 2013 she tried to discuss this with her husband his response was to slap her, pull her hair and call her “a whore and a bitch”.

He told her “listen carefully, I did not marry you and bring you here for my sake, I brought you here only for my mother.”

The court heard text message exchanges between Ahmed and Ms Iram.

In one dated August 2014 he told her “f*** off you horrible and shameless person”.

Another said “my f***ing phone doesn't work stop f***ing calling me” and “stop calling me your hubby, you p*** me off”.

The court heard the marriage was entered into in good faith by both parties but changed after her arrival in the UK in 2012.

Ahmed felt pushed to continue the marriage but was reluctant to enter into a physical relationship.

The couple separated in September 2014 and the divorce was formalised earlier this year.

Judge Christopher Hehir described Ahmed as a man of previous good character, referencing the fact he pleaded guilty early on in the case.

But the judge told him: "She was bullied and controlled by you, given little money and expected to cook, clean and look after your family as if she was a skivvy.

"She described your behaviour as physical and mental torture and in my judgment she was right."

Cathy Ryan, mitigating, said Ms Iram had visited her GP 15 times in the 18 months she had lived with Ahmed and had not been without a phone for an extended period of time.

Outside court, Met Police Detective Sergeant Pal Singh said: “I applaud the victim for persevering with the police in what was a very difficult, complex and sensitive investigation.

"It is the first UK case of domestic servitude between husband and wife.

"There are always lessons that the police can learn to improve the process and with the benefit of hindsight this case could have perhaps been better placed for the victim if it had started in February when she first came to police attention. 

"It was more the cultural and community barriers that we needed to overcome.

“There have been cases in Pakistan ... where women have been publicly executed for alleged crimes of passion whether unfounded or not. She potentially faces a risk from a land that governs itself differently, in accordance with the Sharia."

He added if the courts did not accept cultural differences then "neither should the police".

Ahmed was sentenced to eight months in prison for actual bodily harm and two years for holding another in domestic servitude.

The sentences will be served concurrently.