A 42-YEAR-OLD man who went to Pakistan with his mother returned home and told his wife of 20 years he had taken a second bride while he was away.

Blackburn magistrates heard the ill feeling created by the news ended with Nazzaqat Ali assaulting his wife and their 18-year-old daughter.

And his wife told police Ali had been violent towards her since the start of their marriage but she had always been too frightened to call the police.

The court also heard how the mother-in-law and sister-in-law screamed insults at Nazia Ali and she told how they ‘called me names and prodded me’.

Ali, of Perry Street, Darwen, pleaded guilty on a limited basis to assaulting Nazia Ali and Nauras Ali. He was remanded on bail for a special hearing when evidence will be called to establish the facts of the incident.

Claire Grant, prosecuting, said on the day of the assaults Nazia’s mother-in-law had started shouting at her. Her husband joined in before grabbing the food she was cooking for her eldest son and throwing it in the bin.

When their daughter tried to intervene she was slapped in the mouth before punching Nazia on the arm and throwing a glass of water over her.

Nauras told police that her father marrying another woman in Pakistan had caused problems. She said after the assaults they retreated to the attic room and called the police.

Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said there were two different sides to every story and his client did not accept everything alleged by his family.

“He says when he returned from Pakistan various items were missing from the house and it was this that caused the row,” said Mr Church-Taylor. “He says the food that was being cooked was for him and his wife scraped it into the bin and said he could eat it from there.”