The brother of Harry Potter actress Afshan Azad was sentenced to six months in jail in England for attacking his sister because she dated a non-Muslim.
Azad, 22, who played Padma Patil in the movies, was in fear for her life during a three-hour ordeal last year, Manchester Crown Court heard. She was punched, dragged by her hair and choked by her brother Ashraf Azad, 28, who went berserk after catching her talking on the phone to her Hindu boyfriend.
"I'm going to kill you," the brother threatened. "I'm actually going to kill you."
The assault occurred at their family home, where Azad was branded a "slag" (slut) and a "prostitute" and told: "Marry a Muslim or you die!" Their father may have told the brother to "just kill her," although that testimony was disputed. He also suggested sending her to Bangladesh and into a forced marriage.
She fled the family home the next day, leaving through her bedroom window, according to the Telegraph.
The actress asked the court not to jail her older brother. But the judge sent him to prison for six months after he pleaded guilty to the assault.
"This persistent attack was accompanied by serious and very hurtful abuse and threats," the judge told the defendant. "The background to this offence lies in the concern that you, and perhaps other family members, had about Afshan's relationship with a young man who was not of the Islamic faith."
U.S. & World
Azad appears in several of the Potter movies, including the Yule Ball scene in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" where she played Ron Weasley's date.
