From Bengali bride to Bronson's arms

The union of Saira Rehman, a cheery, blameless Bengali divorcee, and Charles Bronson - the inmate dubbed Britain's most dangerous prisoner - was quite reasonably described as extraordinary.

She travelled to Woodhill maximum security jail in an embroidered crimson sari and by the end of the ceremony she had scandalised one of Britain's most traditionally conservative communities.

Now, three years later, Mrs Bronson and London's Bengali community are bracing themselves for fresh controversy as the tale of her life and her marriage to the most feared prisoner in the country is brought to the London stage.

In Bengali communities, away from world of mainstream theatre, Saira, a tale of culture, love and prison visits, is the hottest ticket there is.

Mrs Bronson, 34, has acted as an adviser for the production. But when it premieres at Logan Hall, University of London, on June 13, she may not be present.

The producers fear that with her in the audience and the community divided, tempers might run a little high.

Nobab Uddin, the playwright, said he has written a cautionary tale. “She was brought to the UK aged 18 to marry a Bengali boy, it didn't work and she ended up marrying a violent prisoner.”

“There is a message for our community in that they must be very careful about arranged marriages and the choices they make.”

Saira herself, still breathless from visiting her notorious husband on Wednesday and celebrating their third wedding anniversary, concurs.

“There are not many people who have a strong enough voice to speak up about arranged marriages and the sort of things I have been through. I have been lucky enough to find love with someone who just happens to be in prison.”

“But parents should know that in many cases their daughters would be better off marrying a rickshaw driver in Bangladesh than marrying some of the men from our community here.”

The play tells of Mrs Bronson's youth in Sylhet, eastern Bangladesh, and records how she was flown to London to marry a restaurant worker at her parents' behest.

The couple moved to Birmingham and within eight months she was pregnant. But the relationship was troubled and became worse when she bore a girl rather than the boy her husband wanted. She divorced him and was liberated, but also became estranged from the family she had in the UK.

She began writing to Bronson after seeing his picture in a newspaper. Bronson, born Michael Petersen, was initially jailed 30 years ago, beginning with a seven-year term for armed robbery.

He has staged eight rooftop protests, assaulted more than 20 prison officers, and has caused more than £500,000 worth of damage.

Over three decades he has served time in 120 different jails and spent 22 years in solitary confinement. He has taken hostages on 10 different occasions, one of whom he threatened to eat.

Uddin, who also edits the Bengali newspaper Janomat, cast Afsana Mimi, one of the best-known actors in Bangladesh, to play Mrs Bronson.

Her image fills the publicity posters plastered all over Brick Lane, in the heart of London's Bengali community.

Casting Bronson was slightly trickier until Uddin discovered Nicholas Triantaillou, who trained in a local gym alongside another cast member.

“He was virtually a lookalike, with the beard and the build,” Uddin said. “He was shocked when I told him who he would play and he has never appeared on stage before. But he said, ‘I will do it. It will be a laugh.’”

Critics have assailed the playwright for opening old wounds, but he now has allies of his own. After telling Mrs Bronson about two critical phone calls, he was contacted by a friend of Bronson, who volunteered to conduct security at the theatre. Others promised to attend as spectators.

Much has changed for Mrs Bronson since the wedding. Her husband has become a Muslim and is now known as Ahmed Ali, after her father. He writes her poems and sends drawings, some depicting birds and leaves and flowers, others featuring harsh scenes of prison life.

She has become accustomed to hostility from outsiders. “A lot of people just ignore me. They think I am a curse on my community,” she said.

“But I just feel lucky to have found my husband. It was written in my fate. A lot of people say my marriage is a joke but many women do not see their husbands from one year to the next. At least I see mine every month.”

Her daughter Sami, 13, has learned to be protective of her mother and of Bronson.

“People say he is the most dangerous inmate, but he is in jail with Ian Huntley and Peter Sutcliffe,” she said.

“We suffer a lot of hatred from a lot of narrow-minded people.”

She never questions her mother about what has occurred. “It just seemed as if it was meant to happen,” she said.

For obvious reasons, Bronson will miss the premiere. His first chance of parole is in 2006. But his thoughts are with those who have turned his personal life into drama.

“Best wishes,” he wrote to Uddin recently. “Bollywood next!”