A minor girl sold to an Arab by her aunt in Hyderabad

In an incident that shows the exploitation of girl child in Hyderabad's old city, a 16-year-old girl was sold to a 64-year-old Oman national by her aunt for Rs 5 lakh allegedly without the knowledge of her parents.

Now police are moving heaven and earth to bring back the girl from Oman as her Omani husband wants her parents to cough up the money he paid to her aunt.  The 64-year-old Omani national, Ahmad is even older than the girl’s father.

Girl’s parents said that Ahmad who visited Hyderabad during Ramzan in June struck a deal with the elder sister of girl’s father. Prior to the visit of the old man to Hyderabad, the ground work has been completed by aunt’s husband through the internet. Before the marriage, the girl was allegedly shown videos of lavish life in the Gulf in an effort to lure her into the alliance.

Assistant police commissioner Mohammed Tajuddeen Ahmed said that the marriage was solemnised by a qazi at a small hotel in the Old City. Ahmed stayed with the girl in the hotel for four days and performed post- wedding rituals and took the girl with him to Muscat. The parents who came to know about the marriage then got in touch with the Omani man who offered to send her daughter back to India if they returned the Rs 5 lakh.  “We are trying to get the girl back to Hyderabad. We have just registered a cheating case against the couple based on the complaint from the girl's mother,” the ACP said.

Not long ago 12-year-old Muneera of the old city was sold to a Shaik from Oman. For two months the 60-year-old Shaik used to call her to a posh hotel here and returned to Oman. One fine day he uttered Talaq three times over phone ending the marriage.

Muneeras’ case reminds us of Ameena a 10-year-old child bride who was rescued on 10 August 1991 by air hostess Amrita Ahluwalia when she was being taken to Saudi Arabia.