This took place on the 7th January 2021. Amina’s friend said she spoke to another friend and explained the situation to her and felt like she wouldn’t be able to be friends with Amina any longer. Her friend supported her and confirmed she had done more than enough for her and she didn’t deserve her as a friend. So Amina’s friend sent Ghengis a message.
Ghengis took her up on the offer very quickly within a couple of hours and he contacted her from another number. He said it was because ‘I knew both of them. He couldn’t talk to his family about her lies as he didn’t want them to think badly of her’. Amina’s friend advised him she couldn’t talk but in actual fact she didn’t want to speak to him, or anyone associated with Amina.
A whole week later, Amina’s friend was still in shock at all that had transpired. So she spoke to a mutual friend about it. Her friend asked some questions that caused her to think. She asked why Ghengis had taken the Shahada and why he was telling her about the lies. She questioned whether he was trying to destroy the friendship. Amina’s friend hadn’t even thought about his reasons for this, and it made her wonder. But she had decided she was done so she wasn’t going to start questioning things and upsetting herself further. She was hurting but she did her best to move on and forget everything as things were currently going well in her life bar this little hiccup.
On 23rd January 2021 – Amina’s friend was working from home when there was a knock at the door. She decided to step away from her work to open it. There were two people at the door. A white male and a female. She heard the female say, ‘This is her’. The female was dressed like an old woman. She had Asian clothing on, a salwar suit with a scarf over her head and a facemask. Amina’s friend didn’t recognise her and wondered exactly who this mysterious old woman was. The male with her asked if he could take her number and she was confused. The female asked if she could come in.
She responded with no and Amina asked, ‘Why not?’, She responded with ‘It’s me Amina’ and again her friend reiterated no. When Amina asked why, she confirmed it was because she lied to her.
Amina then dropped the bombshell. She advised ‘He was beating the shit out of me and I had to lie. I ran away today and spoke to the police and they bought me here’.
At this point Amina’s friend was shocked and warned her ‘I told my mom everything, so you’ll have to explain it to her.’ However, she gave the police officer her number. She allowed her in and gave her a huge hug in the hallway. Amina cried in her arms. She told her to wait in the hallway while she went in and firmly told her mom not to say anything. She warned her multiple times because she could see that Amina wasn’t in a good frame of mind and didn’t need a lecture although she did deserve one.
When her friend saw her in the light of the living room, she realised exactly how dishevelled she looked. She noticed she had on night slippers and her clothing was ridiculously thin. Her friend offered to get her warm clothing, but she declined. It was a very cold day because it been snowing since the night before although on that day there were only flurries.
Amina asked if she could spend the night at her friend’s because she didn’t feel strong enough to go to her parents yet. Her friend agreed straight away but her friend’s mother said she could only stay one night. So, Amina’s friend told her she would speak to their mutual friend and see whether she could stay there because she knew Amina wasn’t ready to face the music at home.
Her friend made sure Amina was eating and drinking but she was surprised when Amina asked permission to use the bathroom. It later transpired that at Ghengis’ home, Amina wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom after 8.30pm so she used to stop drinking water by a certain time.
When Amina and her friend were alone later that evening, Amina shared the whole sorry tale.
In the beginning Ghengis was good to Amina, although even before she left home to be with him they had fallen out because whilst in prison last year Ghengis had accused Amina of giving him Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. She didn’t think it was because of her, however, her husband had be known to cheat on her so there was a possibility of course. Ghengis only discovered these Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) because the prison tested him whilst he was on remand and as a result they argued continuously until he admitted to her that he had cheated on her in November 2019 by having a one night stand with a stranger.
This was news to Amina and made her reconsider everything with Ghengis which is why she decided against having his baby.
When Amina lived at Ghengis home with his two younger brothers, pregnant sister in law, and their mom, Amina lived in the attic. He had allowed her to decorate the attic the way she wanted but used to lock her in the room at night. He then used to make her close her eyes whilst he hid the key, always choosing a different spot.
When Amina used to try and pray her 5 daily prayers, he would beat her up because he believed she was praying to be reunited with her children. His mom did try and tell him off for this but he refused to listen, and sometimes when his mom was upset because Amina hadn’t cooked something in a timely manner, she would be sure to fill Ghengis’ ears with complaints so that he would hit Amina.
Living with Ghengis was pure torture. She never imagined he would treat her this way as the only time he had ever been aggressive before was when he was upset about the abortion she had. In the 15 years prior to this, although they had argued she was never afraid of him.
