Harry Potter star's brother jailed for six months

The brother of star Afshan Azad, 21, who played the teenage wizard's classmate Padma Patil in Harry Potter series, has been jailed for six months for his prolonged attack on her for dating a Hindu boy. The Manchester Crown Court heard its sentence after hearing that Ashraf Azad dragged around by her hair and threatened to kill her.

Afshan Azad was talking to her Hindu boyfriend over her mobile phone at her bedroom of family home in Longsight, Manchester at 7.00 pm on May 21 in 2010. Ashraf Azad overheard her conversation. Irked by her romantic relationship with a non-Muslim, he entered her room shouting slang at her. He punched her with clenched fists to her back and head, dragged around by her hair and strangled her. Then he locked her in her room, but fearing for her life, the actress fled the family home the next day through her bedroom window.

After hearing from Richard Vardon QC, prosecuting, Judge Roger Thomas QC said, ''It must have been a miserable and frightening experience for your sister." Judge Thomas added: ''This is a sentence that is designed to punish you for what you did and also to send out a clear message to others that domestic violence involving circumstances such as have arisen here cannot be tolerated.''