Pakistani Cricketer who beat his wife, and forced her to drink bleach is spared jail

It had earlier been reported that a Pakistani cricketer, who beat his wife with his bat, tried to strangle her, forced her to drink bleach then encouraged her to kill herself, has secured a position in a British club. Now it has been revealed that the reason why he was spared jail is because the judge decided that his wife was not a vulnerable person, therefore he did not pass the custody threshold.

Mustafa Bashir, 34, attacked his hotel receptionist wife with a bat then warned her that she would be dead if he hit her with his full might. In another attack, he held his wife, Fakhara Karim, 33, by the neck and forced bleach down her throat then he forced her to overdose on tablets while ordering her to kill herself. She spat the bleach and drugs out then walked out of the bathroom but Bashir called her family to report to them that they had an argument and that she was not obeying him. Her family urged her to obey him and told him that she would obey.

At the Manchester Crown Court, Fakhara spoke of how her confidence was crushed by her jealous lover, who berated her for wearing westernised clothes and called her friends 'English slag girls'.

Judge Mansell QC sentenced Bashir to an 18-month jail term suspended for two years and ordered him to attend a workshop entitled "building better relationships". He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs and banned him from contacting his estranged wife indefinitely under the terms of a restraining order. 

Judge Mansell told Bashir: "This relationship started well but you began controlling her and how she spent her money. You told her how to spend her money and you tried to turn her against her family who you regularly insulted. She would buy clothes that were of a western style which you disapproved of and called her a slag and said her friends were 'English slag girls'."

"But I am not convinced she was a vulnerable person. Sometimes women who moved from their country become trapped in a relationship where they lose their support network of family and friends and cannot speak the language. This is not the case. She is plainly an intelligent woman with a network of friends and did go on to graduate university with a 2:1 and a masters - although this has had an ongoing effect on her. She had difficulty trusting people now, especially men."

The judge warned Bashir that the court will not be tolerant of violent behaviour from him in the future and if there's a repeat, he will not be getting a suspended sentence but will most likely be imprisoned.

"This court will not tolerate violence in a relationship of this nature. It is a very fine line between imprisonment and a suspended sentence."