My parents tried to force me to wed a stranger and said I'd be stoned to death if I said no

FOR some teenage girls, getting married is the ultimate dream.

- SASKIA ROWLANDS

But for Saliha Sadath it became a living nightmare.

Last summer she thought she was going on a family holiday to Turkey.

But instead of heading to a villa, the 17-year-old was taken to Afghanistan to forcibly marry a 30-year-old cousin.

When she dared to question the situation, Saliha claims relatives threatened to have her stoned to death.

EXPOSE

Miraculously, she was able to secretly contact charities and a lawyer in the UK who helped her escape.

Back in the UK and having turned 18 a fortnight ago, Saliha today bravely tells her extraordinary story to expose the problem of forced marriages.

She said: "I now call myself a forced marriage survivor. I'm very lucky to be alive, I should have been executed.

"I was close to not being here today, it's very scary to think about.

"There was no embassy, I had nobody to help me and nowhere to go.

"I want to raise awareness to make sure other girls don't go through this." Saliha and her family were originally from Afghanistan but she was brought up in the UK. She says life at home in Leicester was tough and accuses her parents of mistreatment.

Her only escape was going to college, where she was studying health and social care and began dating a boy.

She said: "I really enjoyed college because it gave me a space away from my parents to feel free and be myself.

"I'd met a few people and we would hang out together at lunchtime.

"The college also gave me a support worker who helped me and, if I'd stayed, they were going to support me with a Universal Credit application to allow me to get out of the house."

STRENGTH

Saliha who loves drawing and volunteers for charities - had a close bond with her little brother and sister.