A 21-YEAR-OLD man feared he would be killed when he was kidnapped in an ‘honour-based’ attack.

Qasim Ahmed, from Accrington, had been on a secret date with his girlfriend when he was ‘forcibly’ taken, assaulted in a taxi office and then bundled into a vehicle.

He was punched, kicked, stabbed but managed to escape – running for 90 minutes over rough countryside to a secluded house where he raised the alarm.

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Four men have been sentenced to a total of more than 16 years for their parts in the plot, which happened when Mr Ahmed travelled from Accrington to Watford to spend the day with Aqsa Chaudry, 19.

Ann Evans, prosecuting, read a victim impact statement from Mr Ahmed to St Albans Crown Court, which said he would never be able to forget the trauma of what happened to him.

The statement said: “I replay the events of that day over and over again. I thought I was going to die.

“The memories of that night keep me awake and I will find it difficult for the rest of my life.”

Mr Ahmed, who spent time in protective custody, was studying human resources at college, but said he could no longer continue.

He said: “Their faces are etched in my brain. Identifying them was easy but I fear forgetting them will be impossible.”

During a trial, jurors heard Mr Ahmed was threatened with a machete and assaulted in the United Taxis office at Watford Junction before he was later driven up the M1, stabbed and beaten.

The couple had been on a date in Edgware, and on the way home the victim was grabbed at the ticket barrier by Miss Chaudry’s brother Hamzah, who told him: “You’re not getting out of Watford, you’re coming with me. This is my town.”

Mr Ahmed was led to Hamzah’s office where he was assaulted and threatened with a machete.

Miss Chaudry’s father Khalid arrived with his wife Rubina. Khalid Chaudry slapped Mr Ahmed before Rubina took Miss Chaudry home. She then cut off her daughter’s hair as a ‘punishment’.

Khalid left before the ‘heavies’ Arfan Shah and Yaser Ahmed arrived.

After 20 minutes, the four men got into a Vauxhall Astra and drove up the M1, exiting at junction 15 after it was discovered Mr Ahmed had saved Miss Chaudry in his phone as ‘A Virgin’.

After being ‘beaten like tennis ball’, and receiving threats about having his penis cut off, the victim broke free and ran for his life.

Hamzah Chaudry, 26, of Albert Road North, Watford, had pleaded guilty to kidnap and was jailed for five years and nine months.

Arfan Shah, 38, of Paddock Road, Oxhey, was found guilty of kidnap at a trial in December and received a nine-year custodial sentence with a further five years extended sentence.

Yaser Ahmed, 31, of Charlock Way, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for 20 months.

Parents Khalid Chaudry, 53, and Rubina Chaudry, 45, of Albert Road North, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm.

Khalid was given a 12-month community order and 120 hours of unpaid work and his wife was given a suspended sentence last year.

Judge Stephen Warner said: “The one and a half hours Qasim ran over unforgiving terrain indicates the extent to which he was terrified.

“Precisely what would have happened had he not made good his escape we will never know. I’m satisfied he had a very real reason to fear for his life.”

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Ian Siggery, said: “In all of my years as a detective this was one of the most horrifying cases I have dealt with, not only because of the violence used but because those inflicting the fear and violence were known to the victims and should have cared for them.”

Anjum Anwar MBE, dialogue development officer at Blackburn Cathedral, said acts of honour-based violence against both men and women could not be tolerated.

Mrs Anwar, who works to breakdown barriers between religions in East Lancashire, said: “We have policies in our country and we must use them in full force to send out the message that we will never accept this kind of behaviour.

“I am gobsmacked that in the 21st century we should have these kinds of acts.”