An Indian-origin woman, who left her home to avoid being forced to marry a man chosen by her family in India, has founded a charity organisation to help women caught in similar situations. Birmingham-based Kelly Kaur was 16 when she left her house in Walsall.

Kaur, now a 39-year-old businesswoman, says, “I was in a situation where my parents tried to marry me off to a man from India. I always thought you could say no to an arranged marriage, but it turned out that I couldn’t. I told the authorities, but they didn’t want to get involved because it was a ‘cultural thing’.”

Kelly had to return home after her parents told the police that their daughter was under 16. Both parents are now dead, and Kelly is a happily-married mother of two. She has set up a new housing initiative called Thoroughcare Housing and Support to provide help to the victims of domestic violence and forced marriages.

It will also provide education and support to vulnerable adults and children seeking asylum. Kaur says, “I am not saying that arranged marriages don’t work, but they should not be forced. We look to mediate with families and talk to them. I think that if someone could have sat down with my parents and explained it to them it could have been different. The British government has taken steps to prevent forced marriages that are often linked to the spate of honour killing, mainly in the Asian community.”