Case study: ‘I have to share my life with someone I don’t really want to be with’

The 25-year-old said: “I was born in Glasgow and lived there all my life. I met a girl at university and I even took her to see my mum. They got on really well and I planned on marrying her after I graduated.

“I went on holiday to Pakistan before I graduated and one day my uncles and aunts sat me down and told me I should marry a girl from Pakistan. I told them I didn’t want to get married but they kept telling me I should do it for the sake of my parents.

They kept pressurising me, making me feel I was selfish and uncaring and that I would never be happy if I didn’t listen to my elders. I was left with no choice and within four days I was engaged.”

A year later, he married in Pakistan and the couple moved to the UK. He said: “It means I have to share my life with someone I don’t really want to be with.”