Jasminder1 was just 19 when she left her home, a village in India’s Punjab, to come to Britain. Her family was poor, and her parents had sold their house to raise money for her plane ticket and dowry. By arranging her marriage to a British Indian man – a stranger – they believed they were giving their daughter a better life.
The nightmare started as soon as she arrived in London. As Jasminder entered the house and put down her bags, her mother-in-law told her to start cooking. The next morning, her sister-in-law woke her at 5am and made her cook in preparation for a party that evening. Still exhausted and disorientated from the flight, she then cleaned the five-bedroom house from top to bottom and laundered the family’s clothes. That evening, she was told to dress for company. Her sister-in-law, on the pretext of helping her to get ready, smeared lipstick on her cheeks and brought her down to the guests. In front of company, Jasminder’s mother-in-law mocked her for being a villager who did not know how to use make-up. It was Jasminder’s wedding reception.
