A teenage girl was almost choked to death outside her school in an alleged ‘honor killing’ by her parents after she refused an arranged marriage.
Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, were charged with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping after their arrest on October 18.
Shocking video allegedly showed the father on the ground with his daughter on top of him as he choked her.
The girl, 17, who wasn’t named, ran away from home to Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, where her 16-year-old boyfriend also studied, 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.
Victor Barnes, the boyfriend’s father, told DailyMail.com the girl’s parents showed up at his house with police that morning demanding to know where she was.
He told them she was wasn’t there and would presumably be at the school, then texted his son to warn him.
The girl arrived in first period, shocking her boyfriend, who was dating her since February, as her parents pulled her out of school two weeks earlier after another incident.
‘So she runs away from home because they wanted to fly her out of the country – she’s afraid,’ Barnes said.
‘She shows up at the school and my son’s class and the teacher helps her because she looks very malnourished.’
Barnes said school officials took her to a room and eventually found a safe place for her to go, but did not offer to help her get there.
‘They know she’s in danger, they know her circumstances and situation, but they insist for her to take public transportation to get to her safe destination – without any type of chaperone,’ he said.
The girl and her boyfriend walked to the bus stop at the front of the school and she spotted her father’s pickup truck outside.
Suddenly, Ishan emerged from the truck and confronted them, yelling at his daughter in Arabic.
Barnes said 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 kids said, he loses his mind and punches my son in the face,’ Barnes alleged.
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.
Her boyfriend managed to subdue him, along with other students, by repeatedly punching Ishan in the head until he was knocked out and let go, Barnes said.
Josh Wagner, who was driving by the school and stopped to break up what he thought was a school fight, restrained Ishan until police arrived.
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.
‘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 school doors, but wasn’t let in.
Barnes said after Zahraa tried to get through other entrances, the principal put the school on lockdown.
Both parents were arrested at the scene and faced Thurston Country Superior Court on November 5.
They are believed to be still behind bars on bonds of $100,000 and $200,000, according to court records.
The boyfriend suffered a boxer’s fracture as he tried to get Ishan off his daughter, which is now in a cast. The girl’s condition is unclear.
Timberline High School sent a message to parents afterwards, reading: After school today, there was an altercation near campus that required response from law enforcement.
‘We were put on lockdown for a brief period of time to maintain safety and order on campus. Upon instructions from Lacey PD, the lockdown was lifted.’
Barnes was incensed at the lack of care the school showed for both the girl and his son, as the situation had been fraught since the summer.
He claimed that two weeks earlier, the girl’s parents tried to kidnap his son from the school, but were unsuccessful.
The mother was given a no-trespass order by the school and Barnes got a restraining order for his son.
‘At the end of the school day, the school made my child responsible for this girl’s safety by asking him to help this girl get on the bus,’ he wrote in the application.
‘They continued to put this girl’s family situation in the lap of my child as if he’s an adult and understands the gravity of everything.’
The girl was pulled out of school after that incident, but Barnes said she ran away a week later and again came to the school, but staff wouldn’t help her.
‘There was so much negligence by so many adults,’ he said, also claiming Child Protective Services was working with the girl, then abruptly stopped.
The school said it took student and staff safety extremely seriously, in a statement about Barnes’ concerns.
‘When unique situations arise, we work with concerned parties to provide a safe learning environment, and we are doing so in this case,’ it said.
‘As standard practice, including in this instance, we conduct a debrief after situations relating to student safety and consider whether there are actions we can take to improve in the future.’
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.