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In 1995, Shahir Hussain drove his car three times over sister-in-law Tasleem Begum Sadiq. Later, his conviction for murder was overturned when he pleaded guilty to a less severe charge of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation. Sadiq's provocation was that she had left Hussain's brother whom she was forced to marry.

Rukhsana Naz from Derby met the same fate. Forced to marry a cousin in Pakistan when she was 15, she managed to return to England assuring her husband a settlement visa in the UK. One day her abusive mother pushed her on the floor and her brother put a ligature around her neck. Within minutes she was strangled. Her crime: she was pregnant from a boy she intended to marry. For the conservative Muslim community in Derby, she had committed the ultimate crime of adultery, bringing shame and dishonour to the family that could only be salvaged by Naz's inevitable death.

"There is a wall of silence hiding the real magnitude of the problem." Ann Cryer MP from Keighley, who has been a vocal opponent of forced marriages

These are not isolated cases. Marrying daughters within their own caste or community has been one of the biggest concerns among many Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims-an obsession that often results in forced marriage of hundreds of Asian girls in the UK.

Figures published this month by the Government showed that the foreign office and police investigated at least 200 cases of young women and men forced into marriages abroad in the last one year. This is the tip of the iceberg, says Southall Black Sisters (SBS), a group at the forefront of challenging forced marriages and domestic violence within the Asian community. The SBS also gets about 200 requests every year for help from women, either forced into marriage or living in fear of a marriage abroad.

Muslim Women's Helpline in London also gets thousands of calls from girls wanting to escape forced marriages. The problem is most acute in the Muslim-dominated Yorkshire town, Bradford. During the last five years West Yorkshire Police have dealt with more than 1,350 referrals. In 1995, they dealt with 144 and in 2000 there were 272.

Initial attempts to raise this issue were brushed aside in the name of cultural sensitivities. Early immigrants from India and Pakistan came mainly from a rural background. Many of them had little education and low-paid jobs that gave them little opportunity to grow. They hoped to save money and return home, a wish they could never fulfil.

Their inability to look beyond their social order stopped them from mixing with the host community. Many parents, says Najma Ebrahim of the Muslim Women's Helpline, were "scared of society here" and they wanted to save their children, particularly girls, from the "decadent values and corrupting influence of the western society."

But their children, to live and succeed in the world outside, had to adapt to the western ways of life. The younger generation-industrious and ambitious-was determined to move out of cultural ghettoes, such as Southall, Bradford and Leicester, and explore the wider world.

The problem was first highlighted by the high profile case of Jack and Zena, who had to be on the run for about seven years, while Zena's Muslim parents tried to hunt them down across the country. As the incidents of forced marriages increased, the Government took its first step to end the practice in August 1999. A working group, co-chaired by two Asian peers-Lord Nasir Ahmed and Baronness Pola Uddin-was appointed to consult widely with the one million-strong Asian community in the UK. The need for such an inquiry was further demonstrated by a court ruling that parents who took their children overseas to be wed should face charges of abduction.

No force: UK police officials with Indian police as they visit Punjab in a bid to understand the Indian community better

The law is being tightened to make it clear that parents who force their children to marry may face kidnapping and abduction charges.

Assures British Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien, "There can be no compromise on the fundamental rights of these women but at the same time we need to be sensitive to the community's needs. But multicultural sensitivity cannot be an excuse for moral blindness."

Based on the working group report, the Government launched an action plan in August 2000. Foreign Office Minister Baroness Scotland said the Government needed "to send an unequivocal message to parents that forcing children into marriage is wrong. It is not a legitimate cultural tradition and has nothing to do with love or religious practice".

The plan initiated a £350,000 project to develop links between the UK Police and key forces in Punjab (India), Mirpur (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and Bangladesh. To enforce the law, special teams were set up in British embassies and these teams had forged elaborate contacts with the local police and NGOs.

A dedicated Community Liaison Unit (CLU) was set up in the Foreign Office to work on behalf of the victims of forced marriage. And the law was being tightened to make it clear that parents who force their children to marry may face kidnapping and abduction charges.

Recently a conference on forced marriages organised by the West Yorkshire Police brought together representatives of 10 police forces from England, Scotland and Wales and CLU. Invitees were stunned to hear the story of the escape of Narina Anwar and her two sisters from a village in Pakistan (see box).

In the Asian-dominated Bradford, the police had formed a Missing Persons Forced Marriage sub-group. According to Inspector Martin Baines, this sub-group has "allowed an effective dialogue with the Asian community about how to best deal with individual cases of forced marriage". They are now in regular touch with the Punjab Police.

The police are dealing with a rising number of Asian women in the Bradford area leaving their homes. A specialist officer liase between each women and her family. Says Baines, "We treat such cases in a very sensitive manner and we are not in the business of dividing families."

Despite such efforts the problem continues. Last July, Dinpreet (name changed), a college student, was taken to Jindyala in Punjab to visit her grandparents. She was threatened to be thrown into the well if she refused to marry "someone already chosen for me". With no communication for weeks, her Jamaican boyfriend in London frantically tired to contact the British High Commission in Delhi. The authorities with the help of the Punjab Police were able to fly her back to London. Still traumatised, she says, "My family has disowned me. None of them speak to me." She is now trying to rebuild her life alone.

A lot of community elders find nothing wrong in marrying off their daughters in India or Pakistan. What is more scary is the use of "bounty hunters"-young men who chase, threaten and sometimes forcefully bring back girls who have run away. Ann Cryer, MP for Keighley, believes that there is "a wall of silence" hiding the real magnitude of the problem. Before the June polls, she was even warned of loosing her seat because her campaign was seen as having a spoiling influence on young Asian girls.

So what is the escape route? Before going on holiday "let somebody in Britain know; keep your passports and ticket with you; get the phone numbers of the local consul and foreign office," suggests Dinpreet. As for the Muslim community, the message is unequivocal. Says Ebrahim, "Islam condemns forced marriage."

Reviewing the action plan a year on, Home Office Minister Angela Eagle said she wanted to send a message to parents that the Government is determined to stop this "terrible practice." Let's hope such parents do get the message-the sooner the better.