A university student was murdered to "vindicate a family's honour" after he fell in love with their daughter and made her pregnant, a court heard yesterday.

Chomir Ali, from Oxford, ordered his son Mohammed Mujibar Rahman to kill Arash Ghorbani-Zarin because of the "shame and dishonour" brought on their family by Arash's relationship with his daughter, Manna Begum, it was alleged at Oxford Crown Court.

Julian Baughan QC, prosecuting, said Ali, a 44-year-old waiter, became angry in summer 2003 when his 19-year-old daughter began going out with Arash, also 19, from Oxford.

Mr Baughan told the trial that Manna already had a marriage arranged for her.

But, despite her family's disapproval, the lovers continued to see each other, the court heard.

Ali banned his daughter from contacting Arash, taking her mobile phone, and from leaving the house.

This led her to attempt suicide and to run away from home to stay with a friend's aunt, the court heard.

In August last year the couple got engaged after Manna discovered she was pregnant with Arash's child. Manna returned home in October, and again her boyfriend was told by Ali that he was not welcome.

On November 20 last year, Arash was found dead in his car, a green Renault, in Spencer Crescent, Oxford, near his home. He had been on his way to watch a DVD at the house of a friend who began searching when Arash did not turn up. He had been stabbed 46 times, mainly in the chest.

Mr Baughan alleged that Ali's now 19-year-old son, known as Muji, committed the murder. Muji was arrested the following day. Three days later, a man, alleged to be Ali, was spotted stopping his red Toyota car at nearby allotments and throwing a bag over a hedge. The carrier bag was found to contain a knife covered in Arash's blood and clothes which DNA tests showed were worn by Ali's son.

The father and son are standing trial for murder. Also on trial for murder is a 16-year-old, who cannot be named.

Ali also faces an alternative charge of assisting an offender. He is not said to have been present at the killing.

Mr Baughan told the jury that the family's dislike of the relationship was the motive for the murder.

He said: "The relationship brought shame and dishonour on the family that drove the accused to murder Mr Ghorbani-Zarin to vindicate the family's honour."

Mr Baughan told the court that in November 2003, Manna slit her wrists. Ambulance staff were called and Ali and his wife refused to let them in, pushing Manna out of the house causing her head to hit the pavement.

In the week before his murder, Arash had shown friends a scan of his unborn child, inviting them to his forthcoming wedding, Mr Baughan said.

Arash, an electronic engineering student at Oxford Brookes University, was described by Mr Baughan as "fun-loving" with a great sense of humour.

On realising Manna was expecting his baby, Arash had quit his degree course and got a job at a toy store, the court heard.

Interviewed by police, Muji said he had been on a bus to a nightclub when Arash was killed.

Muji's father, Ali, told police following his own arrest, that "Manna's behaviour dishonoured the family but there was nothing he could do about it."

The trial continues.