A father accused of murdering his daughter also threatened to kill his wife and other children if his spouse revealed the truth, a court has heard.
Iftikhar Ahmed, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, stand accused of murdering their 17-year-old daughter Shafilea at their Cheshire home in September 2003.
The couple, of Liverpool Road, Warrington, have been on trial at Chester Crown Court for the last eight weeks and have continually denied any knowledge of her murder.
But today, in a dramatic twist, Mrs Ahmed changed her defence case and admitted that an "incident of violence" towards Shafilea did occur in the family home on 11 September 2003 - an allegation she has previously denied.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, told the jury the new defence case statement from Mrs Ahmed alleges that she came downstairs to discover her husband attacking Shafilea at around 9.30pm.
She says her husband was "very angry" and was hitting and slapping Shafilea around the face.
Mrs Ahmed claims she tried to intervene but was told to "shut up".
She says she tried to "protect" her daughter but was pushed away and then "punched with a clenched fist".
Mrs Ahmed says only one other child - Mevish Ahmed - was there to see what was happening and she "anticipated" that she could also be harmed by her husband, so she took her upstairs and stayed with the other children in a bedroom.
Mrs Ahmed says she was "extremely scared" and stayed in the room for some 20 minutes when she heard a car leaving.
When she went back downstairs Shafilea and her husband were gone.
When Mr Ahmed returned she claims she asked him where Shafilea was, and he responded: "If you care for your dear life and that of your children, don't ever ask me this question again."
Mrs Ahmed says she asked the same question of her husband "one or two days later".
She says he responded: "I have already told you once before, I don't know where she is. I have also told you not to ask me that question again."
Mrs Ahmed alleges that her husband told her that if she spoke to anyone or told anyone anything that he would "do the same to our other children and to you".
She ends the statement by saying she believed her husband had taken Shafilea "somewhere" and that "she was safe".
Mr Justice Roderick Evans told the jury of seven men and five women that Mrs Ahmed's change of story was "a significant development in the case".
Mr and Mrs Ahmed both deny murder.
Shafilea disappeared in September 2003 and her body was found on the bank of the River Kent in Cumbria the following February.
The prosecution claims she was killed by her parents because she brought shame on the family by her desire to lead a "westernised" lifestyle.
The trial previously heard from Shafilea's younger sisters Alesha and Mevish Ahmed.
Alesha Ahmed described how their parents pushed Shafilea onto the settee in their house and that she heard her mother say "just finish it here" in Urdu as they forced a plastic bag into the teenager's mouth and suffocated her in front of their other children.
Mevish Ahmed later told the court that letters in which she apparently described "how her parents killed the teenager" were "fiction".
They were written by Miss Ahmed in 2008 and given to her friend, Shahin Munir, Chester Crown Court heard.
The jury were sent home and will return on Wednesday when the prosecution case is due to finish.