By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-23 16:11:30 | Updated at 2024-11-23 18:55:14
2 hours ago
A girl almost strangled by her father in an alleged 'honor killing' claims he threatened to murder her several times and abused her at home.
Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, were charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, and assault after the attack on October 18.
The girl, 17, who wasn't named, ran away from home to Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, after her parents tried to put her on a plane to Iraq.
'Her father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another county,' the girl told police, according to court documents.
Shocking video allegedly showed Ihsan on the ground with his daughter in a chokehold, while classmates desperately tried to free her.
After she was freed and escaped alleged murder attempts by both her parents and fled into the school with her boyfriend, 16, she detailed claims of abuse to cops.
A police officer interviewed the girl in her bed at Providence St Peter Hospital in Olympia on October 21, where she explained her father felt she dishonored the family.
'[The girl] said the reason why her father threatened to kill her [was] because she has made "trouble at home" and he believes she is trying to "separate the family",' the officer wrote in their report obtained by DailyMail.com.
Shocking video allegedly showed Ihsan Ali, 44, on the ground with his daughter in a chokehold, while classmates desperately tried to free her
The officer wrote that she told them Ihsan previously told his daughter he wanted to 'hurt her so badly but there are cops here' but also told her how he would 'kill her no matter what happens' and he 'did not care if anyone saw him'.
The girl said the last time her father threatened to kill her was two to three weeks before the attack when her boyfriend came to the door.
'[The girl] said she is scared and believed her father's threats to kill her,' the offer wrote.
The girl said her father had a gun 'with colored dots on it' he used to carry in his pickup truck and now kept in a purple box on a shelf in his bedroom closet.
The teenager claimed her father was also abusing her youngest brother, who is autistic.
'She said her father "hits" her younger brother "way more" and it is "disgusting",' the officer wrote. The girl said her brother was autistic and 'didn't know any better'.
'She said one time her father shoved food in the brother's mouth and he was "choking" on it.
'She said the second incident her father took her brother to work with him who in turn "tasted" the "blue thing" in the urinal. She said her dad got mad at him and "hurt" her brother with the belt, which left bruises all over his back.
'She said the third time her brother was in the bathroom and he "pooped" on the floor. She said her dad got upset with him and shoved the poop in his mouth to make him "taste it".
The alleged attack was outside Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington
The officer wrote that the girl alleged her father threw a watermelon at her brother's back, who then fell over and the fruit 'broke open all over his back'.
'She said one time her dad caught her using a cell phone and dragged her by the hair, which caused her to "hit the wall" and hurt her knee,' the report read.
The girl said her father had already bought plane tickets for her, Zahraa, her two younger brothers, and another adult sister to fly to Iraq for the arranged marriage, leaving only Ihsan and the oldest daughter Naheen, 20, behind in the US.
Fearing she would be forced onto the flight or murdered, the teenager fled to Timberline High School the morning of October 18 and met her boyfriend in class.
Discovering she was gone, her parents went to the boyfriend's home with the police and demanded to know where she was.
The boyfriend's father, Victor Barnes, said he told them he didn't know, but presumed she was at school.
Police reports detailed how the girl spent all day with school officials until they found a safe place for her to stay, but did not offer her transport to get there.
Instead, the teen and her boyfriend went to the bus stop out the front of the school to wait for a local bus that would take her to the accommodation.
Suddenly, just after 2.10pm, Ishan emerged from the truck and confronted them, yelling at his daughter in Arabic.
Barnes said his son told him another student, who spoke Arabic, yelled back, 'She doesn't want to go back with you. Leave her alone.'
'He didn't like what the kid said, he loses his mind and punches my son in the face,' Barnes alleged.
Victor Barnes (pictured), the boyfriend's father, explained how the attack unfolded - and the events before it - as told to him by his son
Court documents explained that another student told police the boyfriend stood in front of her and was sent 'flying onto the concrete' when he was punched.
Ishan allegedly put his daughter in a headlock and tried to choke her to death, saying, 'It's not right… you are not supposed to do this', she told police.
Barnes said his son 'starts to see her eyes roll back, and her arms start flailing' before she went limp and unconscious as he tried to save her.
Other students described similar horrifying scenes to police, and her boyfriend said he thought she was going to die.
Her boyfriend managed to subdue him, along with other students, by repeatedly punching Ishan in the head until he was dazed and let go, prosecutors said.
Josh Wagner, who was driving by the school and stopped to break up what he thought was a school fight, then restrained Ishan until police arrived about 2.20pm.
Zahraa then allegedly entered the fray and also tried to choke her daughter to death, but was separated by the growing group of kids.
'Her other daughter, which is the girl's older sister, is trying to fight the other kids away,' Barnes said, which the girl also told police.
'But it's too many other kids and mom isn't as strong as that, so they eventually grab the girl away from mom.'
The girl told police she fled inside with her boyfriend yelling, 'My dad was trying to kill me' as Zahraa allegedly pursued her to the school doors, but wasn't let in.
Security footage showed Zahraa chasing after the teens as they ran inside, before she was blocked from following them further than the front office.
After Zahraa tried to get through other entrances, the principal yelled at her to leave and put the school on lockdown.
Josh Wagner (pictured), who was driving by the school and stopped to break up what he thought was a school fight, restrained Ishan until police arrived
The boyfriend suffered a boxer's fracture as he tried to get Ishan off his girlfriend, which is now in a cast. The girl was taken to St Peter Hospital for treatment and a strangulation exam.
Police said they saw scratches on her neck and she complained of neck, throat, and jaw pain, and had difficulty swallowing.
'She believes she lost consciousness three to four times during the incident,' court documents alleged, adding that at one point she woke up with dirt pressed into her face.
'[The girl] stated that she thought she was going to die.'
Medical staff at the hospital reported she also suffered burst blood vessels in her eyes, and abrasions to her shoulders.
Ishan was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree domestic assault, and fourth-degree assault.
Zahraa was charged with second-degree attempted murder first-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree domestic assault, and second-degree burglary.
They are both behind bars on $1 million and $500,000 bonds, respectively.
