Indian police fail to act to extradite husband wanted on dowry charge

Indian police have failed to apprehend a man living in the UK and wanted in connection with a serious dowry crime - two months after vowing to take urgent action in the case.

Care worker Ahmed Anees Hussain, 37, faces charges relating to domestic abuse and dowry crime punishable by up to seven years in prison in his native India.

In July our reporter tracked down Mr Hussain and confronted him about why he has not answered the allegations after his ex-wife Fathima Sumaya Khan, who lived in Katherine Road, East Ham, spoke of the anguish it has caused her family.

We provided Bengaluru city police in India with Mr Hussain’s address and the force’s commissioner confirmed an Interpol Red Notice to secure his imminent arrest and extradition was being urgently sought.

Two months later that notice has not been issued and despite repeated attempts to contact Indian police they have been unable to provide further information.

The delay has been condemned by Ms Khan, 32, who lodged the criminal case against her ex-husband after she fled the allegedly abusive marriage in October 2011 leaving east London and returning to India.

She said: “The amount of press coverage this issue has received is phenomenal and I don’t see why authorities in my own country are delaying this matter. It has left me feeling hopeless and helpless.

“I once again urge Bengaluru police and the prime ministers of India and Britain to look into this case and to help me to get justice.”

Our investigation has shown the case file has been passed from Bengaluru police to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the country’s central crime agency which requests Red Notices from Interpol.

The CBI publishes details of Indian nationals who are the subject of Red Notices on its website. Mr Hussain does not feature on this list.

Documents obtained by the Ilford Recorder show Mr Hussain is listed by the Indian courts as having “absconded” and a Look Out Circular seeking his arrest has been issued for each of the last four years.

Despite vigorously asserting his innocence, Mr Hussain has not travelled to India to appear before the court on charges under the Dowry Prohibition Act and Indian Penal Code.

But Marital Justice, a UK organisation that campaigns against perceived injustices in Indian dowry law, criticised the use of extradition proceedings in his case and is now supporting Mr Hussain.

Hardik Mehta, president, said: “Interpol has stopped issuing Red Notices in cases of dowry crime. At one point they were receiving about 300 notices coming from India.

“These people have been put with terrorists, murderers and money launderers, which should not be the case.

“Once Interpol has seen this, now they are not issuing Red Notices for such marital disputes.”

He said Mr Hussain would face immediate arrest and imprisonment if he returned to India before a trial typically lasting five to seven years, during which time he would be unable to work or return to the UK.

Instead Mr Hussain is taking legal action to have the charges dropped and to try and clear his name without returning to his home country, he confirmed.

Mr Hussain, who lives in a flat near Norwich City Centre, declined to comment further when approached.