AN evil father-in-law who imprisoned his son's Pakistani bride as a sex slave has been jailed - after his victim learned enough English to call police and beg for help.
The depraved 56-year-old stripped the bride of her jewellery and passport after she came to Britain following an arranged marriage, a court heard.
He made her swear on the Koran that she would keep the abuse a secret and promised to heap shame on her by forcing her to divorce his son if she refused his demands for sex.
But after more than three months of abuse, she summoned the little English she had picked up and called 999 at dead of night to plead with the police for help.
Her life was such unbearable misery that she contemplated suicide, Bradford Crown Court heard, after her husband effectively abandoned her at his parents' home.
The defendant, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, subjected the 22-year-old to 'repeated and sustained' sexual abuse, scratching her arm with a screwdriver and burning her with an iron to reinforce his authority over her, the court heard.
Prosecutor Richard Clews said he told her not to wear underwear to make the abuse easier.
He molested her when his wife was out, after locking the house doors. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, made his victim do the housework, care for his grandchildren and bring him breakfast in bed.
Mr Clews said the bride spoke no English when she came to the UK in 2008, aged 18, following an arranged marriage. Her husband stayed out late and then stopped coming back to his parents' home at all, leaving his bride under the power and control of her father-in-law.
Jailing him for seven years, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC told the man: "She was your prisoner and slave in your home."
He added: "The slavery turned into repeated, sustained sexual abuse and degradation." The man forced her to watch pornography and physically hurt her with his 'unfaithful and disgusting activity'.
The judge praised the woman's bravery and commended Detective Constable Sharon Larkin, of West Yorkshire Police, for her work on the case. The man pleaded guilty to sexual assault, between May 1 and August 12, 2010, causing his victim to engage in sexual activity against her will causing her actual bodily harm.