Two parents of a teen daughter are now facing multiple charges ranging from burglary to attempted murder after a shocking incident at a high school bus stop.
The alleged incident happened on October 18 just outside Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, when a 17-year-old girl was purportedly attacked by her own parents, according to local police.
Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, are now facing multiple charges each for the alleged attack.
Ihsan’s initial charges were 1st degree attempted kidnapping, domestic violence; 2nd degree assault, domestic violence; and 4th degree assault in Thurston County Superior Court on October 23. On October 29, authorities added a 2nd degree attempted murder, domestic violence charge.
Zahraa was hit with initial charges of 2nd degree assault, domestic violence; 2nd degree burglary; and violation of a protection order. Those charges have been upgraded to include 2nd degree attempted murder, domestic violence.
According to coverage by local newspaper The Olympian, the parents were attempting to abduct their daughter when they confronted her at the school bus stop in order to take her overseas for an arranged marriage with an older man.
CrimeOnline reports that Ihsan had threatened what’s known as an “honor killing” if she did not comply with her parents’ demands that she be married overseas.
According to the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, “honor killing” refers to the practice in some Middle Eastern and South Asian countries whereby male family members feel duty-bound to murder a female family member who “has brought dishonor and shame to their family by transgressing social norms.”
The father allegedly choked his daughter at the bus stop until she went limp and appeared to fall unconscious, according to witnesses. All the while, her boyfriend and other witnesses on the scene attempted to intervene on the teen’s behalf, prying him off of her and leading to a fight with the father.
As the daughter regained consciousness, the newspaper reports her mother allegedly grabbed her by the neck.
In the scuffle with the teen’s boyfriend and others, the father allegedly punched the 16-year-old boy, causing a boxer’s fracture to one of his fingers. His father has since filed a protection order for his son while raising some concerns about how the school, police, and state handled the situation.
“There is a negligent aspect to this on so many levels,” the boy’s father told The Olympian, adding that he’s currently weighing whether or not to consult an attorney over the whole incident.
According to the father, his son and the Ali’s daughter began dating in February. That following summer, he began to learn that she was struggling at home.
In his court filing, the father details an alleged incident in September where Zahraa showed up at the young couple’s school and purportedly grabbed and yelled at his son. The court details that she was removed from the premises.
The father also claims that Child Protective Services had been involved in the situation at the Ali home, but that they stopped just as her situation grew worse. The Olympian was not able to reach CPS for comment.
Police in Lacey received a call about the teen girl a week before the bus stop attack as she’d allegedly run away from home. According to the boyfriend’s father, the police brought the Alis with them to his home to ask his son about her disappearance.
“They know where we live and they know how to locate us,” the father expressed, with Lacey police Sgt. Jeremy Knight acknowledging his concerns. “We are working cooperatively with the school district and the prosecutor’s office and appropriate measures are in place,” he told the news outlet.
Additionally, the father railed against the school district, alleging that “the school made my child responsible for this girl’s safety by asking him to help this girl get on the bus … they continued to put this girl’s family situation in the lap of my child as if he’s an adult and understands the gravity of everything.”
According to the father, the girl was able to run back to the school for help, which triggered a lockdown and call to the police.
The district sent a message to parents that day that read, “After school today (10/18), there was an altercation near campus that required response from law enforcement. We were put on lockdown for a brief period of time to maintain safety and order on campus. Upon instructions from Lacey PD, the lockdown was lifted.”
In response to the father’s stated concerns, the district released a statement to The Olympian: We work with families, staff, and law enforcement partners to maintain safety and security on our campuses, and we take student and staff safety extremely seriously. When unique situations arise, we work with concerned parties to provide a safe learning environment, and we are doing so in this case.”
“As standard practice, including in this instance, we conduct a debrief after situations relating to student safety and consider whether there are actions we can take to improve in the future.”
