A curry house worker who subjected his wife to two years of bullying violence has been jailed.

Abdul Shamim, 34, was said to have attacked his partner two to three times a week after she moved from Bangladesh to join him in the UK in early 2019. The couple had wed in an arranged marriage in 2015.

His assaults included slapping her head, whipping her arms with a belt, covering her mouth when she was sleeping and wrapping his hands around her neck.

He became jealous when she spoke to other men, cut her off from friends, disapproved of her getting a job and refused to let her go to the doctor if she was unwell.

Oxford Crown Court heard that matters came to a head in November 2020. During an argument in their bedroom he slapped her face, pushed her to the bed, knelt on her chest and throttled her. When she tried to push him off he placed a pillow over her face, grabbed her arms and punched her a number of times.

Family members stepped in and the couple separated, with Shamim’s wife leaving to stay with her sister.

Alex Radley, prosecuting, said: “The complainant did not report the assault as she wanted to keep the family together because in her culture it was customary to deal with problems within the family.”

Shamim visited his wife a couple of times. He was ‘very apologetic’ and convinced his partner to give him a second chance.

However, his bullying and assaults continued. “After what had happened the complainant genuinely feared for her life,” Mr Radley said.

On March 12, 2021, she called the police after Shamim held her throat for up to a minute, kicked her leg and shoved her to the bed.

In a victim personal statement, Shamim’s wife said she had had to move to another part of the country where she had no friends or family.

Shamim, of Marjoram Close, Blackbird Leys, was found guilty at the magistrates’ court of controlling behaviour and assault. He had no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Christopher Pembridge said his client continued to deny wrongdoing. Shamim had worked in Abingdon Spice curry house and was well regarded in the community. He had no previous convictions.

There had been some positive moments during the relationship. Mr Pembridge suggested that the lockdown may have had an impact on the couple, as it had for many.

Jailing Shamim for 15 months, Judge Maria Lamb said: “This may well have been a relationship which started well but quickly deteriorated.

“That the pressures of lockdown may have been a difficult experience is really no excuse for the behaviour which you showed. Many others will have had the same pressures and worse and not behaved in the way that you did.”

A restraining order prevents him from contacting the victim for 10 years.