Victim of bully who repeatedly raped wives speaks of joy at being free from monster

A woman who was repeatedly raped by her husband has spoken out after he was jailed for abusing her and his second wife.

Imran Ali was caged for nine years and banned from approaching or contacting his victims for life.

He abused them in Scotland and Pakistan during arranged marriages between 2007 and 2023.

He controlled what they did and where they went and subjected them to regular sex attacks.

He threatened to get his first wife pregnant and then divorce her, and told his second victim he would get her pregnant then "throw" her back to her homeland of Pakistan.

And his first victim has now told of her joy at being free from his clutches - and seeing him caged for his crimes.

The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, said: "It was a very unhappy 10 years and I’m glad I got away from him when I did.

"It was a difficult 10 years living with him and I'm definitely in a much better place now."

She also revealed she had deleted every picture she had of him when they split up.

The 45-year-old Pakistani met his first victim, who is Scottish and of Pakistani descent, in Pakistan in 2006.

They married and he raped her on their wedding night while friends and family were just outside the room.

He moved to Scotland in 2007, gaining citizenship through their marriage, and repeatedly abused her between 2007 and 2013 at addresses in Lanarkshire.

Once they had moved to Scotland, Ali threatened to divorce her after getting her pregnant, and repeatedly raped her over the following six years.

The abuse took place at three different addresses in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, and saw him manhandling her and stripping her. 

He also regularly sexually assaulted her while she was asleep and then raped her when she woke up.

She found the strength to leave and split from Ali before they divorced.

He then entered a second arranged marriage with a teenager from Pakistan.

They met in 2021, when she was aged 19 and he was 40, first meeting each other at their wedding.

When asked about their wedding night, his trial was told she felt she "had to" have sex with him as she had married him.

He told relatives she refused to have sex with him, and overheard him saying she was the problem in their relationship. 

He was verbally abusive, insulted her appearance and said his British passport meant he could replace her easily.

Her father applied for a divorce but their families decided she should give him another chance.

They moved to Scotland for a fresh start, living in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, where he abused her in an identical way, repeatedly raping her in 2023.

She cried as she relived the ordeal she suffered at his hands, revealing she was locked in the flat as he claimed there was only one set of keys.

She was not allowed to study, work or go out, and was told her first job was "to make babies and prove to him that she was a good wife" as "Muslim girls don’t do anything, they just make babies"

The court also heard he warned her: “I will make you pregnant and throw you back to Pakistan."

She found the courage to phone the police after an incident at a bank branch saw a worker giving the victim her phone number.

She later phoned the employee when Ali was out and revealed the domestic abuse she had suffered, with the worker advising her to seek help.

Officers forced entry to their flat after she contacted them and she was taken away from the property, before he was arrested and charged.

Ali was jailed last month at the High Court in Glasgow.