Aisha K. Gill 97 her of hiding the money. She pushed Shafilea with both hands on her chest and shoulders onto the settee. Alesha stated that Shafilea, still weak from her illness, had a small frame of not much more than five or six stone (31–38 kg). Alesha then heard her mother say “Etay khatam kar saro,” Punjabi for “just finish it here.” Iftikhar went to Shafilea and pulled her into a lying position on the settee. Shafilea began to struggle as both parents hit her and held her down. One of them said, “Get the bag.” Alesha saw her mother grab a thin white carrier bag from the stool next to the settee. Then they both forced the entire bag into Shafilea’s mouth. Each placed a hand over her mouth and nose. Her legs kicked, but Iftikhar put his knee up on the settee to pin her down until she stopped strug­ gling (Gill 2014: 186–187). Alesha went on to explain that, despite having seen her sister die the night before, the following morning she asked her mother where Shafilea was. The children were sternly instructed that if anyone asked, they were to say that Shafilea came home from work, went to bed, then ran away in the night. The day after Shafilea’s murder all the children were sent to school. Alesha recalled breaking down and telling some friends what had occurred. She described being very upset and confused at the time and, as a result, spontaneously blurted out that her father had killed her sister. When her teachers asked her about this, she recanted from fear of reprisal from her parents and the matter was not pursued until later. Questions remain as to why those who had witnessed Alesha’s breakdown at school did not take further action to investigate the disappearance of her sister. Why did the teachers only contact the police on September 18, 2003? During the trial, both of Shafilea’s parents insisted that they had not been involved in their daughter’s disappearance. They also denied claims that they had repeatedly beaten her over a pro­ longed period. Eight weeks into the trial, Shafilea’s mother, Farzana Ahmed, changed her defense in what the judge described as a “significant” development (Gill 2014: 187). On July 8, 2012, she admitted that an incident of “violence” involving Shafilea took place on September 11, 2003 (Gill 2014: 187). Shafilea had confided in her friends that her mother was particularly abusive toward her while she was growing up. Perhaps the most damning evidence for Farzana’s complicity in her daughter’s murder came from the installation of a covert listening device in the Ahmed home in November 2003. In conversations with her other children, Shafilea’s mother can be heard warn­ ing them not to say anything at school. She was also recorded saying to her son: “If the slightest thing comes out of your mouth, we will be stuck in real trouble. Remember that.” These covert recorded conversations further suggest that Farzana may have had knowledge of what happened to Shafilea. She exclaims to Iftikhar: “You’re a pimp. You’re shameless. I’m going to say it to you clearly, I swear to Allah, everything happened because of you” (Bhagdin 2012). In other recorded conversations she remarks on the mileage of their family car: “… Yeah, so this means they will look at the mileage of our car as well to see how much it is” (Bhagdin 2012). In the year of Shafilea’s “disappearance,” Farzana scolded her children: That’s what I’m saying. That slut is acting as if she is relieved. The face is getting puffed up. And you behave bandeh di ti ban [“become the daughter of a human”] yourself, as well. Today is not a day to be beaten up, okay. Are you listening to me? I’m talking to you . . . Farzana’s treatment of her daughter could be explained using Kandiyoti’s seminal 1988 study, which describes the phenomenon of abuse by mothers against daughters as a culturally specific form of “patriarchal bargain” between the mother and the extended household. Kandiyoti’s dis­ cussion of “classic patriarchy” sets out how family dynamics between younger and older women in the South Asian familial systems are structured by a model of patriarchy that stresses “corporate