Pak Cricketer Jailed for Beating Wife in the UK

A Pakistani cricketer based in the U.K was sentenced to 18 months in jail after hitting his wife with a cricket bat repeatedly and forcing her to drink bleach.

The Judge Richard Mansell had earlier let off Mustafa Bashir since the cricketer’s legal team had claimed that he had been offered a contract by the Leicestershire County Cricket Club. The judge had suspended his term in order to save Bashir's career. However, there was no such contract, and the contract letter that Bashir had produced had been fake.

"Leicestershire CCC are appalled that Bashir could have invented a job offer from the club in order, it would seem, to evade a prison sentence. The club are actively involved in the fight against domestic abuse," said Leicestershire CCC. 

The judge had also said that Bashir’s sentence would be suspended because his wife was educated and ‘not a vulnerable person’ and had employment prospects.

Of course he was criticised for saying that Bashir’s wife was not vulnerable.

He later clarified his remarks saying that compared to other victims, Bashir's wife had a network of family and friends she could tap into.

"In referring to the fact that Miss Karim was an intelligent woman, who had worked as a receptionist and studied at university, and who had a network of friends, l was simply highlighting the fact that she had a degree of independence and support that some victims, whose circumstances are different, do not," said the Judge.

He said that of course she is vulnerable due to the psychological damage that she has faced.

Also Read: New form of Domestic Abuse: Economic Abuse