A grandmother — and only 34

YOUNG grandmother . . . Shila Begum (left) with her family (from the left) Mehrunissa Ali, Faiza Chowdhury, Mariam Ahmed, Mohin Khan, Rubaiyath Chowdhury and Fardeen Ahmed

A 34-YEAR-OLD woman from Abbeyhills is believed to be Oldham’s youngest grandmother.

Shila Begum, who lives in Waltham Street, had her first grandchild a year ago.

Her 17-year-old daughter, Rubaiyath Chowdhury, a former pupil at St Augustine’s School, Werneth, missed her GCSEs after giving birth to her daughter, Mehrunissa Ali, but is hoping to resit them at the Oldham College in September.

Mrs Begum, a mother-of-four who was born in Bangladesh, came to the UK when she was seven months old.

At 15 she was flown back to her native country to marry a man she hardly knew and gave birth to her first daughter, Rubaiyath, at 16.

However, the forced marriage collapsed after four years. Mrs Begum remarried in 2000 and has two children, Mariam and Fardeen Ahmed, from that relationship.

Mrs Begum, now single again, explained: “I saw a television programme called “Britain’s Youngest Grandmother”, so I did a bit of research to find out if there were any in Oldham.

“There weren’t so I thought I would give it a go. Nobody ever believes me when I tell them I’m a mother, never mind a grandmother.

“Rubaiyath was born in Bangladesh and I brought her here when she was seven months old as well.

“But the exciting thing is that my mother, myself and my daughter each had a girl first. That’s special.”