A "traditional Islamic wife" told a family court judge how she was made to kiss her mother-in-law's feet after calling police and raising concerns about the behaviour of her husband's family.

The woman told Mr Justice Newton that she had been "brought to heel" and "made to toe the party line".

Mr Justice Newton said the way the woman was treated could only be called "degrading".

Detail of the case has emerged in rulings published by the judge following hearings - in London and Preston, Lancashire - in the Family Division of the High Court.

The judge had been asked to analyse issues relating to the woman's two children.

No-one involved was identified.

The judge said the woman and her husband were both of Pakistani origin and both in their late 30s.

She had been born in Pakistan - he had been born in the UK.

They had taken part in an arranged marriage in Pakistan nine years ago - and she had moved to live with his family in Oldham, Lancashire.

The woman had told how she had called police after her mother-in-law had told her to pack her belongings and take them to Pakistan.

"Such was (her) disquiet and anxiety - indeed, it seems to me, panic - that, notwithstanding her hitherto obedient position and subservient role within the family ... she took the exceptional step of contacting the police," said Mr Justice Newton in a ruling on the case.

"The (woman), evidently, is an entirely traditional Islamic wife.

"She served her husband and his family in their home in the north west with as much obedience and loyalty as she could muster."

The judge added: "It can be seen with that background how very difficult it must have been for her to summon the assistance of the police. She described what occurred thereafter ... how she had been made to be brought to heel, made to toe the party line and, indeed she says, made to participate in what can only be called a degrading experience, which was that she should be submissive and obedient to her mother-in-law, including bending down in front of her and even, she says, kissing her mother-in-law's feet."

Mr Justice Newton said the woman's husband was an "essentially weak and shallow" and "spoilt" man who "does as he is told by his mother".

The judge said the woman's mother-in-law was "selfish and self-centred" and "utterly manipulative" - and he added: "Amongst the galaxy of thousands, probably tens of thousands of witnesses whom the court has heard over many years, including serious criminal cases, this witness was amongst the toughest, most focused, manipulative and callous that I have ever heard."

He said in late 2011 - about two months after the call to police - the woman and some of her husband's relatives travelled to Pakistan.

The woman said she had been left in Pakistan with one of her children and had not been able to return to the UK for more than three years.

Mr Justice Newton said the woman had been "forcibly separated" from one of her children.

He concluded that the two children should now live with their mother in England - away from their paternal family.

The judge said the woman was devoted to her children and focused on getting them "reunited".

He said she had done a "remarkable job".

Mr Justice Newton said the woman's husband could see the children.

But the judge ordered the man not to "speak ill" of his wife - and he ruled that no other member of the paternal family could have contact with the youngsters.

He said he would review the case in December.