It was, said a relative of the bride, so that the mother-in-law could check to see if her son had married a virgin.

Zahida Khan, a cousin of the new wife - Sania Bibi - was asked if this was a common thing the happen.

She replied: "Some people still do, some mothers want virgins for their sons, so they do check. Some, not all."

Mrs Khan told the jury her cousin had been embarrassed by the actions of her mother-in-law, Zafia Bibi, 49.

She is on trial at St Albans Crown Court with her husband Ali Akhtar, 55, and their son Haroon Akhtar, 28, in connection with their alleged treatment of the new wife.

The son denies five charges of causing actual bodily harm to her and he and his mother deny a charge of putting a person in fear of violence.

The mother-in-law and her husband deny theft of Sania Bibi's jewellery.

The jury has heard how, in April 2006, Haroon Akhtar married the 18 year old in an arranged marriage in Pakistan.

It is claimed that that marriage was not consummated at the time and, after two weeks, Haroon returned to his home in Hemel Hempstead.

His parents followed later, allegedly taking back jewellery they had presented as a wedding gift to their daughter-in-law.

In September of that year, the wife came to the UK on a two year spouse's visa to join her husband at the family home in Paston Road, Hemel Hempstead.

The jury has been told by the prosecution that on her arrival, the marriage was consummated, but sex between the husband and wife ended in less than a week and she was banished to a box room.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, Sania Bibi told how the family informed her she had been brought to the UK to be a servant in the house.

She said she was forced to work 17 hours a day, cooking and cleaning for her husband, her in-laws and other family members.

Within a week of her arrival at the home, she said her husband had started hitting her and attacks by him then occurred on a daily basis.

She said she never saw her jewellery again and, living with the family, she was banned from using the phone or answering the front door.

Her husband, she said, told her she wasn't 'good enough' for him and he would get married for a second time and have children with his new wife.

She told the court he informed her that it would be her job to look after the children.

On one occasion she said her husband attacked her in the bathroom and threw her down the stairs after his mother complained she hadn't done her chores properly.

In the witness box, Sania Bibi's cousin, Mrs Khan, told the court that back in Pakistan she had been a happy, bubbly and chatty girl, and quite naive.

She said following the wedding she visited Pakistan and met up with Sania.

"She was very quiet about the marriage itself and the family," she said.

Mrs Khan said her cousin also told her Haroon Akhtar had not consummated the marriage on the wedding night.

She said when her cousin arrived in the UK, she did speak to her on the phone from her home in Blackburn.

Her cousin, she said, was quiet down the phone, replying to questions with one word answers and it was not the Sania she had known back in Pakistan.

Mrs Khan said she and members of her family came to Hemel Hempstead in October 2006 to visit Sania.

"I was quite shocked. She was very pale and had circles under her eyes and she had lost a lot of weight.

"She was constantly looking at her mother-in-law for approval.

"Her face was a mess. It was like someone else had put her makeup on and she was very quiet," she said.

Mrs Khan said that because of the cold reception from the family, she and her relatives decided to cut short their stay and return to Blackburn. Weeks later, she said Sania came to stay with her mother (Mrs Khan's) in Blackburn.

She said she wasn't happy. She said she was woken very early to do housework and she was constantly shouted at.

The cousin said she had learned how Haroon Akhtar's family would call her 'stupid' and 'thick', telling her she wasn't good enough for him because he had a degree and she was not as educated.

Mrs Khan went on: "She mentioned that Haroon had hit her. She was crying so much and she was so upset."

She said Sania told her how she was not allowed to eat with the family and sometimes not at all if it was felt she had done something wrong.

She said one family member told her how she would be taken to a mental hospital and let out only at weekends.

She went on: "My mother said to her things would get better and that these were only teething problems at the beginning of the marriage."

She added: "My mother believes a daughter's place is in her husband's home through thick and thin."

She then told the court how her cousin had told her that the morning after sex had first taken place with Haroon, the mother-in-law had come upstairs to inspect the marital bed.

Mrs Khan said "The following morning, the mother-in-law went upstairs to check the bed to see if it was stained, to make sure she was a virgin."

She said it was the mother-in-law who often instigated the violence suffered by Sania.

"She said the slightest thing would make her mother-in-law angry. The mother-in-law would work herself up into a frenzy until her son came home. When he came home, she would blurt it all out and he would get angry and hit Sania."

She said on some occasions Haroon Akhtar would hit his wife during his lunch break when he came back home, or save it until the evening.

Mrs Khan said although Sania had to cook for the whole family, her husband's meals were cooked for him by his mother.

The case continues.