Sudanese held for forcing minor into marriage

HYDERABAD: Following the arrest of a qazi on Monday for trying to forcibly marry off a young poor Muslim girl to an Arab Sheikh, police on Tuesday arrested two Sudanese nationals, two qazis and two female pimps for forcing a minor girl to enter into a contract marriage with one of the foreigners. The Sudanese national Mohammed Elshafie Mohammed Elhassan alias Ansari of AC Guards, who is in the city on a student visa, married the girl to exploit her and later leave her when he completes his studies, police said. His friend also tried to take advantage of the girl.Though there have been instances of Arab Sheikhs marrying young girls from the city, this is the first case where an African national was involved. The contract marriage came to light after the 16-year-old girl from Bela Colony in Moghulpura escaped from Ansari’s clutches and approached the police. The nikah had been performed on June 9 and the girl lodged a complaint with the police on June 23, 16 days after the marriage.According to South Zone DCP Vineet Brijlal, the nikah was performed without the consent of the girl. “The girl hails from a very poor family and her father had expired eight years ago. She is one of five siblings,” the DCP said.25-year-old Ansari is pursuing B.Sc from a private college at Punjagutta. Ansari’s 27-year-old friend, Khaled Elrashid Khalid, also from Sudan, is pursuing a computer course in the city and allegedly tried to outrage the modesty of the girl.Vineet Brijlal said two pimps - Zahera Begum of Kalapathar and Ghousia Begum of Falaknuma - were operating in the Old City in search of young girls to marry off to foreigners.The women take the help of two Qazis, Syed Shakeeluddin alias Shakeel Ahmed and Syed Abdul Malik, both from AC Guards to get the marriages performed.“Ansari gave Rs 50,000 as meher to the girl’s family and also some amount to the pimps. The nikah was performed after showing that the girl was a major and had consented,” Brijlal said.“Ansari did not intend to take the girl away with him.He married her only to take advantage of her,” the DCP added. The accused had also taken the thumb impressions of the girl on the day of marriage so that they could execute a ‘Qula Nama’ (divorce) when the Sudanese leaves.Police suspect that six to seven similar marriages have taken place in the past six months. “We are trying to identify the girls and a special team has been formed to track them,” the DCP said.He added that they are also asking the Wakf Board to ensure strict implementation of guidelines by the Qazis while performing marriages.Police registered cases under sections 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 366A (procreation of minor girl), 376 (rape), 420 (cheating) and other sections of IPC and said that relevant sections of Immoral Trafficking Act would also be added in the chargesheet.