LONDON, Dec 19: London’s High Court ruled on Friday that a doctor who says she was forced into a marriage in Bangladesh cannot be removed from Britain without her consent.

Humayra Abedin, 32, who lives in east London, said she was tricked into returning to Bangladesh after hearing her mother had fallen ill. She was then held captive by her family who had chosen a man for her to marry against her will.

Last week, the High Court in Bangladesh ordered that the trainee doctor should be freed, allowing her to return to Britain.

“I shall grant further orders to protect Dr Abedin and prevent her being removed from this country again without her consent,” High Court judge Justice Coleridge said on Friday.

The ruling follows another London High Court order made earlier this month under the new Forced Marriage Act, which allows British courts to prevent forced marriages.

Abedin had come to Britain six years ago to study and was due to start work at a surgery in east London when she heard about her mother’s illness and returned to Bangladesh.

“I am really happy to be back, but I’d like to get back to my life and looking forward to starting my job,” she told reporters after the court hearing. “It’s been very difficult, you can understand, being held captive and against the will.”

The court heard that after she arrived at her family’s home on Aug 5 she was locked in a room and her passport, travel tickets and other documents taken from her.

On Nov 14 she “entered into a marriage ceremony against her will and under duress”, the court was told.

Abedin told reporters she had been taken to a clinic or hospital against her will and forced to take medication, which she believed to be anti-psychotic drugs.—Reuters