Dad ‘forced daughter to sign contract promising to never get fat and weighed her almost daily’

A young woman has claimed her dad weighed her daily and forced her to sign a contract promising to never get fat, a UK court heard.

A fitness-fanatic father “forced his daughter to sign a lifetime contract promising to never get fat”, a UK court has heard.

Dad-of-three Rachid Khadla, 56, also allegedly weighed his daughter almost daily and ruled his family with terrifying discipline, the court was told.

Mr Khadla, of Windsor, Berkshire, denies three counts of child cruelty and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, over the treatment of his now adult daughter Amira and sons Hicham and Karim, The Sun reports.

Reading Crown Court heard how in 2012, Amira was made to sign an agreement saying: “I, Amira Khadla, will never let myself get fat.

“I will do lots of exercise to make sure I will never get fat, even until I die.”

Her father also decided what she could wear, who she could see and talk to, and what she could watch on television, it was claimed.

It was alleged Mr Khadla regularly hit her with a spoon, punched her arms and chest, and even threw a chair at her which left a lump behind her ear.

Amira said she was “fearful” of her father, who she said constantly put her down, calling her stupid, a failure and telling her she was rubbish.

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Amira told the court her father made her sign a ‘lifetime contract promising to never get fat’. Picture: Hyde News

Mr Khadla was “very conscious” about fitness and diet and his children’s weights were “a constant issue”, the court heard.

The jury heard he would regularly weigh them “to make sure they had not put on weight”.

The court was told Mr Khadla also deliberately strangled his son, who is now 18, and beat his children with spoons if he considered they had misbehaved.

His wife of 27 years, Sarah, did not intervene but she supported the police prosecution.

She claimed her husband had a “quick temper” and would get angry for no reason towards their three children.

Mr Khadla was reportedly “aggravated” by his youngest son Hicham, who struggled with some learning difficulties.

‘QUICK TEMPER’

The court heard how on October 16, 2019, Hicham was cleaning his sister’s bedroom when the defendant attacked him for being too slow.

Alex Krikler, prosecuting, told the court: “He punched Hicham to the chest a number of times and then pushed him onto his sister’s bed.

“He then placed both hands around his neck and strangled him for quite some time, five to 10 seconds, before pulling him up, punching him to the chest and walking away.

“Hisham had tried to say ‘stop’ but had been unable to speak.

“He could not breathe and although the marks left by the strangulation were relatively minor, the incident was extremely frightening.”

The court heard that the next morning, moments before the family had to leave to attend his sister’s university graduation ceremony, Hicham told his mother that his father had “crossed a line”.

While his family were celebrating, Hisham went to school where he confided in his closest friends about the ordeal.

The boys told their teachers what had happened and the staff informed police, and Mr Khadla was arrested later that evening.

The dad-of-three is facing charges of child cruelty and assault. Picture: Hyde News

Mr Krikler described to the jury how Hicham said he was treated growing up. “For the most minor of transgressions at home, he said that he would regularly get ‘the spoon’.

“His father would make him put his hands out and would smack the palms of his hands with a wooden spoon.

“He also described how his father would push and punch him and on occasion throw things at him.

“The abuse was not just physical. The defendant would also threaten extreme violence, that he would ‘splatter his brains across the ceiling and kill him’.

“His father would tell him that he was weak.”

When Amira was just nine years old, she said she had a chair thrown at her which left a lump behind her ear.

Her father lied to doctors, claiming the injury was caused by a football, the court heard.

Amira’s father decided what she could wear and who she could see and talk to, the court heard. Picture: Hyde News

‘CONTROLLING’ FATHER

The court also heard eldest son Karim’s account of cruelty he suffered as a child.

He remembers “the control, the temper, and the violence” and being punched to the head so forcefully when he was 15 that it knocked him over.

The 26-year-old left home and severed all ties with his family before the allegations came to light.

The jury heard that mum Sarah supported her children’s account of how they were treated by Mr Khadla.

Mr Krikler said: “She describes the control he exerted over the family and how he had a quick temper and would get angry for no reason.

“That anger she describes as being directed towards the children.”

After his arrest, the defendant denied strangling his son, instead claiming he was acting in “self-defence”.

He said his son was in a rage and he was in fear so grabbed his son, who had tripped onto the bed, to restrain him.

The prosecutor said: “When asked how he would discipline his children, he said when they were younger, he would smack them on the bottom, but otherwise he said that he had never beaten or physically chastised them.

“He denied threatening his children or physically hurting them, saying that he sometimes shouted, but that was it. He denied controlling his children.”

The trial continues.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission