Unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her alcoholic husband, a battered Punjabi housewife and mother of two in London, sets him on fire and kills him. Charged with first-degree murder, she is sentenced to life imprisonment, where she befriends her cellmate, a wealthy white woman, from whom she learns English. Her cellmate is so moved by her story that she asks her stepbrother, a highly respected queen's counsel, to file her appeal. Her case comes to the notice of a motley group of south Asian social workers running a under funded organization called "Southhall Black Sisters". They bring her plight to the attention of the media by organizing rallies to gather public support for her freedom.
