Bethnal Green school girl wanted to flee ISIS before being killed by Russian jets but was too terrified after seeing Austrian teen beaten to death
Kadiza Sultana was killed in a Russian airstrike after telling her family she was desperate to leave and did not feel safe
A BRITISH schoolgirl killed in a Russian airstrike after leaving east London to join the radical Islamic State was too scared to leave Syria for fear of brutal punishment.
Kadiza Sultana was 16-years-old when she left Bethnal Green with two friends to live in Syria but was killed in a Russian airstrike in May - just after telling her family she felt scared to leave.
In the tragic twist, her family's lawyer said the young teenager had been desperate to leave and return home to the UK but did not want to risk being captured and punished by ISIS fighters.
Tasnime Akunjee said: "The problem with that was the risk factors around leaving are quite terminal also, in that if ISIS were able to detect and capture you then their punishment is quite brutal for trying to leave.
"In the week where she was thinking of these issues a young Austrian girl had been caught trying to leave ISIS territory and was by all reports beaten to death publicly, so - given that that was circulated in the region as well as outside - I think Kadiza took that as a bad omen and decided not to take the risk."
Speaking to BBC's Newsnight, Akunjee said the young girl's family was "devastated".
Austrian girl Samra Kesinovic was reportedly used as a sex slave and was beaten to death when she tried to escape.
The 17-year-old was reportedly murdered with a hammer.
Akunjee said young Kadiza had become disillusioned after she realised the IS propaganda did not match up with reality.
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Kadiza and her friends Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, who were both 15 when they made the move, flew from Gatwick to Turkey in early 2015.
The teenage girls, all straight-A students, got onto the February 17 flight after telling their parents they were going out for the day.
But security cameras captured images of the girls instead heading to the airport.
After reaching Turkey, the girls are believed to have travelled to Raqqa, a stronghold for the Islamic State.
Kadiza was married to a local man while friend Shamima Begum is also believed to have been married to an ISIS fighter.
Her father, Mohammad Uddin, said he was worried about the news of Kadiza.
He said: "I have had no contact with her. I last heard from her two or three months ago when she texted me to say she was okay.
"Obviously the news about Kadiza makes me very worried. If this has happened to one of the other girls, it could have happened to my daughter as well, I'm shocked."
Kadiza reportedly became unhappy when her new husband was killed and soon after told her family she was scared.
Kadiza's sister Halima spoke to the young teenager while she was in Syria.
In recordings of the phone conversations released by ITV, Kadiza said she felt scared.
She said: "I don't have a good feeling. I feel scared.
"You know if something goes wrong, that's it. I will never be with you."
Halima confirmed to ITV News that her younger sister had been killed.
She said: "We were expecting this in a way. But at least we know she is in a better place. She is gone."
Kadiza's family issued a statement shortly after she went missing.
In it they said: "In your absence, we, as a family, are feeling completely distressed and cannot make sense of why you left home. Due to the speculation that you may be travelling towards Syria, we are extremely worried about your safety.
"We would like to emphasise that we are not angry with you and you have not done anything wrong. We just want you all to return home, safe and sound."
Another pupil from Kadiza's school, Bethnal Green Academy, is understood to have left to live with the radical group.
Around 800 Brits are believed to have left the UK to join IS with at least 250 thought to have returned.
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