A YOUNG Muslim woman broke down in tears as she told a jury she was a social outcast after being raped by a restaurant worker who locked her in a flat in Bradford.

The former accountancy student told Bradford Crown Court she wanted to marry Abdul Hanif because in her culture no-one else would want her after she had lost her virginity.

The woman, of London, accuses Hanif, 30, of Chapel Lane, Allerton, Bradford, of holding her captive, beating and repeatedly raping her over a three month period.

Hanif denies three offences of rape and one of causing actual bodily harm by throttling the woman with a cable.

He says they lived together happily at various addresses in Bradford until she discovered he had a gambling habit and could not afford to send money to her family in Bangladesh.

The woman said Hanif wanted to rent her out for sex to help pay off his debts.

When she refused, he ripped a phone charger out of the socket and strangled her with the cable. He then slapped her and threatened to throw her out of the window.

Hanif's barrister, Geraldine Kelly, suggested yesterday the woman was lying.

"Have you made this up about him raping and beating you because you were annoyed with him and felt let down by him because he was unable to provide for your family?" she asked.

The woman denied this.

She told the court she had been abandoned by family and friends.

"I had nowhere else to go. I cannot show my face in society," she said.

The trial continues.