Latest news with #teenhero
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Hero schoolboy tells how he saved girlfriend when her Muslim parents tried to strangle her in 'honor killing'
A heroic teenage boy has described how he saved his girlfriend's life as her parents allegedly tried to strangle her in an 'honor killing'. Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, are charged with second-degree attempted murder and attempted kidnapping after the attack on October 18. The girl, 17, who can't be named, ran away from home to Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, 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. Shocking video showed Ihsan on the ground with his daughter in a chokehold outside the school, while classmates desperately tried to free her. Ihsan and Zahraa both pleaded not guilty and are expected to go on trial in July. The girl met her boyfriend at the school after she fled her home and school officials arranged for her to stay at a women's shelter. However, the school did not arrange transport there, so the couple went outside to catch a bus, and spotted Ihsan's pickup truck in the car park. The teenage boy explained to police in an interview on November 6 that a friend told him Ihsan had seen them and was heading their way. '[The girl] was scared, shaking, and had a tremble in her voice,' Detective Julie Mullen wrote in a report obtained by the Daily Mail. The boy stood between his girlfriend and her father as they tried to get to the bus as it arrived, and attempted to separate them when Ihsan tried to pull her away. Ihsan then allegedly punched him in the head and he remembered falling down and everything going black. '[He] said when he got up [the girl's] dad was "choking" her and [two other students] punched [Ihsan] in the face and people were yelling to call 911,' Mullen wrote. 'He started punching her dad in the face but he continued to choke [the girl] and said others were trying to pull her out while he continued to punch her dad in the head. 'He continued to punch Ishan until his "head got soft" and he got knocked out.' The boy then helped his girlfriend off the ground, but she 'couldn't breathe' and didn't know what was going on. Just as he was helping her to his feet, he alleged Zahraa and the girl's eldest sister Haneen, 21, came up behind them and pushed him out of the way to get to her. He told police he tried to 'fight them off' by putting up his arm up and pushing them away, and in the melee the girl and Zahraa were pushed to the ground. 'Once [the girl] and her mom were on the ground, her mom put her arm around her neck and started choking her,' Mullen wrote. He said that as he tried to pull the girl away from Zahraa, Haneen yelled 'what are you doing this?' at him. The boy was eventually able to pull his girlfriend to her feet and then away from Haneen when she allegedly grabbed her, and flee towards the school. The brave teenager suffered a 'boxer's fracture' to his finger as he tried to get Ishan off his girlfriend, and bruises and scratches on his head and face. He wasn't diagnosed with a concussion but had symptoms such as sensitivity to light and headaches when he tried to watch TV or play video games. His mother told police it 'took him several days to talk about the incident without crying'. The boy also told police about an earlier incident at the school with Zahraa on September 16 last year where she attacked him. He explained the incident was sparked by Zahraa seeing him and the girl kiss three times outside the school. The girl told him her 'life was ruined' after she realized that her mother had spotted them. '[The girl's] mom grabbed his arm and told him to get in her car but he continued to walk to the bus. [The boy] said he was yelling and causing a scene,' Mullen wrote. The girl earlier told police in a three-hour interview with police on October 24 that she ran away because she was terrified of being taken to Iraq where she would be married off, abused, and forced to have children - never to return home. She explained that after her boyfriend was knocked to the floor with his eyes closed, Ihsan grabbed her in a viscous attack. '[The girl] said her dad yanked her down and put her in a headlock. She said he was "choking" her "really hard" and she remembered grabbing his arm but then passed out,' police wrote. From there, her memory of Ihsan's attack ended, and she only knew what happened by watching the video of her boyfriend and classmates heroically saving her life. But the attempt on her life was not over, as Zahraa allegedly seized her and tried to finish the 'honor killing'. 'Someone pushed them to the ground, and then her mom started to choke her and was screaming in her ear,' Mullen wrote. The girl also detailed her father's alleged threats to kill her for dating an American boy, and refusing an arranged marriage. 'If I could kill you, I would kill you, but I can't do that. I can't do that because there's cops and CPS people involved right now because of you,' she claimed he said. 'And I can't touch you because you will immediately go to the school.' The girl told police Ihsan another time told her he wanted to 'hurt her so badly but there are cops here' but also told her how he would 'kill her no matter what happens' and he 'did not care if anyone saw him'. Police bodycam footage obtain by showed officers arriving at the school and arresting Ihsan, who demanded to speak to his daughter. 'Just let me tell her to come home - not like that. If I tell her to go home, she will go home,' he insisted, but police ignored him. Officers then had to deal with Zahraa and Haneen, who were hysterical and only left after Zahraa was allowed to speak to Ihsan. These are some of the cuts, welts, and broken bones the teenage girl suffered when her parents allegedly tried to strangle her in an 'honor killing' Police did not realize Zahraa also allegedly tried to kill her daughter until four days later, leaving her free to continue looking for her daughter, who was in hiding. Zahraa drove her youngest children, two boys aged five and three, into Canada and dropped them off with an Ihsan's brother and mother, who lived there. She then returned to Washington before trying to cross into Canada a second time with a 'notable quantity of baggage' on the night of October 22, but was arrested by customs officers.
BBC News
22-06-2025
- BBC News
'Hero' teen rescues cat from gang attack in Smethwick
A "heroic" teenager and his mum are being thanked by the RSPCA for saving a cat who was being violently attacked by a gang of 14-year-old intervened after seeing the black and white cat being hit with a stick, kicked, and thrown about by the group in nicknamed Bertie, the cat was taken by the rescuer and his mum to the RSPCA, where he is now safe and recovering from his "relatively minor" injuries after being treated by investigators are now appealing for information about the attack outside the Bearwood Court Hotel on Bearwood Road in Smethwick, on Friday 30 May between 18:00 and 19:00 BST. RSPCA animal rescue officer Sarah Guest said they wanted to find out if Bernie had an owner and track down the boys responsible for the assault."We'd really like to thank this 14-year-old lad and his mum for getting Bertie to safety and into the care of the RSPCA," she said."This was a really nasty attack on a really nice little cat. They were hitting him, throwing him, hitting him with a stick - the whole thing."But bless him, he scooped Bertie up in his arms and took him home. His mum took him to the vet and the vet called us."Bertie had bitten his tongue "nastily", but Ms Guest said it was healing. He also had cuts and abrasions on his face, a bloody nose, and facial is now being cared for at the RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre & Hospital in Frankley, Birmingham. "This was mean and really upsetting. He is a really lovely little cat and the lad did so well to step in and get him to safety," Ms Guest said."It's a shame because he's a really lovely cat in himself. He's a nice little boy and he's doing alright, luckily."He's not chipped or neutered so we can't trace him back to anybody. But he's very friendly so I think he probably does belong to somebody."Ms Guest said the 14-year-old who rescued Bertie did not recognise the boys who attacked the cat, but that they were "a little bit younger" than with information about Bertie or the attack on him can call the RSPCA appeal line on 0300 123 8018, citing incident number 01534830. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
