A YOUNG Asian woman is believed to have been murdered in West Yorkshire because a love ballad was dedicated to her on a radio station, it emerged today.
The apparent "honour killing" was investigated by West Yorkshire Police last year but officers have been unable to charge anyone because of a wall of silence in the girl's Pakistani community.
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Nazir Afzal said the romantic song was played for the girl, in her late teens or early 20s, on an Asian radio station in West Yorkshire.
"It was picked up by a member of her family, who then told other members of her family," he said.
"She disappeared in circumstances which suggested she was murdered.
"She was in regular contact with friends and they no longer have any contact with her."
It was thought members of her large family believed the song dedication had brought shame on the family, he said.
The suspected victim was taken overseas, possibly to Pakistan, where it is believed she was murdered, the prosecutor added.
Her disappearance was later reported by a friend in the UK who was concerned for her safety.
"West Yorkshire Police are very sophisticated in this area but it reached a stage where they weren't able to progress the inquiry. There have been no arrests," said Mr Afzal.
"Nobody is being helpful in the investigation as is so often in these cases."
The shocking case was highlighted as the CPS staged its first conference to improve the way so-called "honour" crimes are handled.
Another case in 2002 in Newham, east London, saw a young woman, who had been raped by a stranger, killed by family members who believed she was to blame and that the incident dishonoured their family name, the conference heard.
It emerged that 117 deaths and disappearances of Asian women, spanning a decade, are being re-investigated to ensure they were not victims of "honour" killings.
The cases across England and Wales are to be re-examined by detectives, working alongside the CPS.
