You would think being cast in a role in the Harry Potter movies after going to the auditions “for a bit of fun” and attending college around the filming of those movies would indicate a charmed life for a young woman. Not so for Afshan Azad, who has played Padma Patil in four movies. The news out of London is that her father and brother have been arrested for threatening to kill her. Her brother was also charged with assault.
The apparent cause of the threats is that Azad’s Muslim family did not approve of her dating a Hindu man, as People reports . For now, the men have been banned from traveling to London, where Azad is believed to be staying, and they must not contact “an unnamed man,” according to CBS News’ Crimesider blog .
The most annoying-slash-disturbing part of the whole story is the comments by the arrested brother, who is out on bail. He appears to be complaining about all the unwanted attention.
“We are going to get trouble from the community now. It is bad news for our safety, her safety.”
Kind of odd, isn’t it, that now he’s worried about his sister’s safety?
Update, Friday 5 p.m.: Over at the Corner, Phyllis Chesler shares two studies she did for Middle East Quarterly that look into the disturbing increase in honor killings in Europe, and points out that almost half of all such killings take place in England. Her post is worth a read.
Photograph of Afshan Azad by MJ Kim/Getty Images.
