Six-year-old girl set ablaze

London, Sep 20 (UNI) Two men murdered a six-year-old girl by setting fire to her house to warn her brother of a relationship he was having with the sister of one of them, the Birmingham Crown Court was informed.

The victim, Alisha Begum, suffered 95 per cent burns and died after a masked man burst into her home, sprayed petrol around and set it alight. The fire spread so quickly that members of her family had to jump out of upstairs windows to escape.

The court was informed yesterday that the attack was planned by Hussain Ahmed, a 26-year-old dentist, and Daryll Tuzzio, 18, after Ahmed found out his 15-year-old sister was seeing Alisha's brother, Abdul Hamid, 21.

Yesterday the two men went on trial, accused of murder and the attempted murder of nine of the girl's relatives who escaped from the blazing house in Aston, Birmingham.

Prosecutor, Adrian Redgrave said, ''One hears of so-called honour killings though one may wonder how by any stretch of the imagination there can be any honour in what happened here, resulting in the death of a six-year-old child. Hussain and his associates knew that at the house there was not only Abdul Hamid, and he was the one they were trying to get at, but they knew full well that there was a whole family living there.'' The jury heard that Mr Hamid started a relationship with the teenager, Meherun Khanum, towards the end of last year. Twenty-four hours before the fire Mr Hamid received a threatening telephone call warning him off.

Mr Redgrave said shortly before midnight on March 10, a masked figure burst through the front door of the family home and sprayed petrol in the hall before lighting a match. The court was informed that Alisha was in her bunk bed at the time and died at Birmingham Children's Hospital the following day.

Mr Redgrave described the attack as ''an act of pure wickedness'' and said it was a clear attempt to get at Mr Hamid for forming an ''unauthorised relationship'' with Meherun. He said there was no evidence Ahmed actually started the fire but it was clear he ''directed'' the attack.

Both men deny their involvement in the murder. The trial is continuing.

UNI XC SI VV71740