After a woman was killed with a crossbow in London this week, we need to talk about domestic violence in South Asian communities

This week, we heard the story of pregnant Sana Muhammad’s tragic murder, and the arrest of her former partner in Ilford for the crime. In October, Nazia Ali was also killed, with her former partner arrested in Tower Hamlets.

In previous years, we heard about Jasmin Chowdhury who was beaten to death by her solicitor husband Mohammed Rahman, Rushna Begum, who was stabbed to death by her husband Sheikh Islam, and Rehana Begum, who her family said, was stabbed to death by a number of her husband’s relatives, to name but a few.

The most recent release from the Office for National Statistics showed that women of mixed/multiple ethnicities were among those most at risk of experiencing partner abuse in England and Wales. Nevertheless, much domestic violence in Asian communities falls under the radar because the women concerned are afraid to report the abuse, leaving them vulnerable to further physical and mental torture.