'Honour killing' victim was raped

Banaz made several attempts to warn police her life was in danger

An honour killing victim was raped and tortured before being killed in her south London home, a court has heard.

Banaz Mahmod was subjected to rape and other degrading acts in the last two hours of her life, it emerged during a pre-sentence hearing at the Old Bailey.

The 20-year-old's body was found in a suitcase buried in a garden in Birmingham in April last year.

Last month her father Mahmod Mahmod, 52, and his brother Ari Mahmod, 52, of Mitcham, were found guilty of murder.

They ordered her execution because they believed she had shamed the family by falling in love with the wrong man.

Banaz's father and uncle murdered her because she acted "shamefully"

The two men will be sentenced along with Mohamad Hama, 30, of West Norwood, south London, who pleaded guilty, on Friday.

Others who took part in the killing are on the run.

Banaz was garrotted for five minutes, but it took half an hour for her to die as her killers stamped on her neck to "let her soul out".

Hama had been secretly taped when he spoke to an unnamed visitor who visited him in Belmarsh prison after his arrest.

Prosecutor Victor Temple, QC, quoted Hama as saying: "I swear to God it took more than two hours.

"Her soul would not leave her body - it took over half an hour.

"I swear to God, my foot was on her back. I was kicking or stamping on her neck to get her soul out."