The parents of a 17-year-old Washington girl face kidnapping charges for allegedly trying to kidnap their daughter for an arranged marriage overseas.
Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife, Zahraa Ali, 40, were arrested in Lacey, Washington, on suspicion of multiple crimes, including assault and attempted murder, in the Oct. 18 incident.
Their alleged goal had been to take the teenager to another country for an arranged marriage with an older man, and her father had threatened her with an “honor killing” if she did not cooperate. The Olympian reported.
Witnesses claimed that during the altercation, the girl’s father strangled her until she was limp and appeared to have lost consciousness at a bus stop near Timberline High School. Several people, including her boyfriend, tried to get their hands off her.
The incident occurred at a bus stop near Timberline High School, and the two teens ran back into the building to escape their parents.
When she regained consciousness, her mother also tried to grab the teen’s neck, The Olympian reported.
He ran back to the school for help, prompting the school to go on lockdown.
There were already concerns about the girl’s family life before the alleged attack.
In September, Zahraa Ali was expelled from the school campus after allegedly grabbing and yelling at her daughter’s boyfriend. A week before the October 18 incident, he had allegedly run away from home.
Her boyfriend’s father told The Olympian that when police were alerted that she had fled, they showed up at her house with her parents looking for the teen.
“They know where we live and they know how to reach us,” he added.
He said Child Protective Services had been working on his case but “stopped working just as his situation worsened.”
The groom’s father said his son was punched and suffered a broken finger during the altercation while trying to free his girlfriend from his father’s grasp. She added that she felt the school staff had let the teenager down and that her son was the one left to help her.
“At the end of the school day, the school made my son responsible for this girl’s safety by asking him to help her get on the bus,” her boyfriend’s father had written in a protective order, The Olympian reported.
Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife, Zahraa Ali, 40, were arrested in Lacey, Washington, on suspicion of multiple crimes, including assault and attempted murder. They were scheduled to be arraigned on November 5.
“They continued to put this little girl’s family situation in my son’s lap as if he was an adult and understood the seriousness of everything.”
The 17-year-old’s father has been charged with attempted murder/domestic violence in the second degree, attempted kidnapping/domestic violence in the first degree, attempted kidnapping/domestic violence in the second degree, assault in the second degree/domestic violence and fourth -Grade aggression.
His mother has been charged with second-degree murder/domestic violence, as well as attempted kidnapping/domestic violence in the first degree, second-degree kidnapping/domestic violence, second-degree assault/domestic violence, and second-degree robbery.
Both were due to be arraigned on November 5, The Olympian reported.