adminNEW YORK. – Boxer Amir Khan’s wife has told of her nightmare living with his family, saying: “I was bullied but no longer.” Faryal Makhdoom (25) claims she was slapped, had a remote control hurled at her and was cropped out of family photos.The catwalk model also alleges her “controlling” in-laws changed the locks to her and Amir’s room while they were away on a romantic break. She says they insisted she tell them if she was going shopping to Asda, and flew into a rage if she bared her skin, against Muslim law. Faryal hit out at his family on social media last week.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday after the outburst, she says: “I never felt I could do anything right. I was bullied physically and mentally.
“One day I said, ‘Enough of this s***, I’m going to speak up. I’ve had it for three years and that’s enough’.’”
She says ex-world champ Amir had also stood up to his family, adding: “My husband feels like a man now. He’s much happier and so am I.”
Faryal, born in New York to Pakistani parents, was a 21-year-old student when she married Amir in 2013. Soon after the lavish ceremony the couple moved into a Bolton bungalow he shared with mum Falak, dad Shah, brother Haroon (25) and sister Mariyah (19).
She says: “It was a big culture shock being an American in this northern town. There, they think you are a bad Muslim if you show a bit of skin. I felt like I didn’t fit in.”
Faryal says when she and Amir went away for a few days early in the marriage she locked the door to their room. She adds: “It was our space and my things were inside but when I came back Amir’s parents would have changed the locks. They said it was their son’s room and that they were allowed access.
“I don’t think they ever looked at anything inside — it was the principle. They had this attitude that their son was their everything and I was just an appendage. But we were man and wife and I should’ve been treated with respect.”
She also clashed with Amir’s siblings. She claims: “When I went to do laundry on the other side of the house, his eldest sister Tabinda slammed the door on me.
“I said to Amir’s mum, ‘Is this fair? Tell your daughter this is wrong’. But she just brushed away my words. “Tabinda hit me and she threw a remote at me, which missed. Mariyah cropped me out of family photographs, which was hurtful, and has said nasty things about me.”
More trouble erupted after she went to the wedding of Haroon, known as Harry, in August. Faryal says: “I remember grabbing Amir’s mother’s hand on the dancefloor. Harry later tweeted something about me not showing them respect at the wedding then he deleted it.”
Faryal says she was made to follow petty rules while in the house.
She says: “I used to go out shopping and I was quizzed, ‘How much are you spending? Why so much?’
“Even if I went to Asda, they’d ask why hadn’t I told them first. It was all about control. They’d say things like, ‘She sits at home all day and does nothing. She’s too modern’. “They were always telling on me. They’d say to Amir, ‘She didn’t come to our side of the house today’, or, ‘She wore sleeveless today’. If I had been older I would have handled it better.
“After a while, I just started to go quiet. I felt everyone thought that Amir Khan’s wife had this beautiful life. But I was miserable, depressed.”
Faryal says even her pregnancy was dogged by anxiety, claiming her in-laws urged Amir to divorce her. She adds: “They would say things (to my parents) like, ‘Come and get her, she’s giving us problems’. Amir didn’t know what I was going through.
“They said, ‘Ok, every morning she has to be up by 8am and make breakfast for the whole family’. “What a cheap and humiliating thing to suggest. They were basically saying that’s all a daughter-in-law is good for.”
Faryal even admitted she threatened to call police, adding: “When the locks got changed and when my sister-in-law threw the remote, I did say that. But I was scared his parents would convince Amir to divorce me if I called the police.” –The Sun.
Online Reporter