Sabia Rani, 19, who had arrived in the country just five months earlier from Pakistan for an arranged marriage to Shazad Khan, 25, a resident of Leeds, was repeatedly attacked over a three-week period which finally led to her death, the prosecutor, Simon Myerson, told the Leeds Crown Court.

"The attack which killed her was prolonged and vicious. Her agonising rib fractures were caused by kicks, stamps or very hard punches," the Daily Mail reported in London on Tuesday, quoting Myerson as telling the court.

Though Khan has already been convicted of murder, the police also investigated the role of his family members and charged the victim's fiftytwo-year-old mother-in-law Phullan Bibi, sisters-in-law Nazia Naureen, 28, and Uzma Khan, 23, and her husband Majid Hussain, 28.

However, all have denied the charge of allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

According to the British daily, Rani, who grew up in Kashmir, arrived in the UK in December 2005 to live with her cousin Khan and his family. They were formally married on January 15, 2006, and the bride's ordeal began immediately.