A FRIGHTENED Redbridge mother has called for an end to forced marriages after she escaped from a loveless nightmare of domestic violence at the hands of her brutal husband.

The mum-of-three, known only as Sadia,' took her children to her native Pakistan last year in a desperate attempt to break free from the hell of life with her husband's family in Ilford.

The 36-year-old, who has since returned to Redbridge, says the Asian community must face up to the consequences of forced marriages, which she says are ruining the lives of women and children across the borough.

Her plea comes after recent government figures showed more than 2,000 children are missing from school registers across the UK, with MPs concerned that many have been taken abroad as a result of forced marriages.

Sadia, who has begun a legal battle with her husband for custody of their children, says she knows many other women in Redbridge and neighbouring boroughs who are suffering the same misery as she experienced.

She said: "Forced marriages are bad for women and for their children.

"I was born in Pakistan, and sent to England by my family, in 1997, to marry a man I didn't know.

"I didn't speak very good English, so I was stuck in the house with his family, not able to do anything but cook and clean for him.

"I kept going because of my children, but he was abusing me every day, and it was too much to take when he moved his girlfriend into the house with us.

"I took the children to Pakistan, but came back to fight for custody of them. I don't want them to have to live with him anymore."

Sadia has had to live in hiding since returning to the UK, after suffering intimidation from her former husband's family, including being threatened with a gun in Ilford High Road.

Shukri Mohamed, of the Redbridge-based Somali Welfare Trust, said women forced into unhappy or violent marriages should seek help from teachers, social workers or the police.