The BBC has been forced to issue an apology in Urdu and pay damages after publishing "serious defamatory allegations" about a London man on its Urdu-language website.

The piece, which made allegations about the marriage of Shakeel Saleem under the headline "Husband used to beat me up", ran on BBCUrdu.com, part of the BBC World Service, on September 14, but was not noticed by Shakeel Saleem for several weeks.

The BBC subsequently admitted it did not take steps to verify the allegations made by the man's estranged wife and accepted the piece should not have been published.

It posted an apology in Urdu on its website and agreed to pay him damages, although a spokesman refused to comment on the size of the payout.

In a statement agreed with Mr Saleem's solicitors, the BBC said: "This article made serious defamatory allegations about Mr Shakeel Saleem, of London, regarding the breakdown of his marriage, including allegations that he abused his wife and son.

"We published this article based solely on the uncorroborated account given by Mr Saleem's estranged wife. We did not take any steps to verify the allegations independently and we did not contact Mr Shakeel prior to publication.

"As such, we accept that this article should not have been published and accordingly we withdraw all the allegations made against Mr Saleem.

"We have agreed to pay Mr Saleem damages and legal costs. We apologise to him for any upset that this article may have caused."

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