Minor girl foils parent's bid for 6th Arab Nikah

After 22 years, the menace of forced marriage has risen its ugly head once again in Hyderabad.

In a shocking incident, a 17-year-old girl was forcibly married off five times in the past two years to various men by her money-hungry parents.

The victim, daughter of Mohammed Akbar, a pawn shop owner from Hafeezbabanagar, escaped while her parents were trying to fix her marriage for the sixth time.

The victim was helped by an NGO and has lodged a complaint with the Rein Bazar police alleging that her parents had  fixed her marriage with a 50-year-old Sudanese national.“I escaped from the auto when they sent me to meet him last night with a tout,” she told the police.

The police have arrested Akbar, his third wife Niloufer and two others. “We are trying to identify the Moulvi and other brokers who fix such weddings in Hyderabad and also their links,” said the police. According to the police, Akbar, along with Nilofer, sister Mehrunnisa and broker Rehana, had married off the victim first in 2012 to one Basheer from Nagpur for Rs 30,000.  A few months later after Basheer abandoned her, Rehana married her off to London-based NRI Jamal at Pune for Rs 30,000.

The victim’s third and fourth marriages were performed with Saudi sheikhs in Mumbai for amounts ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh in 2013. The victim spent three months with each of them and was held captive and was sent out only with guards.

Her fifth marriage was performed in Hyderabad with a Bahraini national for Rs 1 lakh a few months ago. On January 14, Akbar fixed the victim's sixth marriage with a 50-year-old Sudanese national, Mannan, for Rs 1 lakh.

“After escaping I spent a night with a friend and later approached the police through an NGO,” says the girl who has completed matriculation and was not sent to college due to financial constraints. Akbar has four wives. “My father forcibly married off two of my sisters (daughters of second wife) recently in a similar manner,” she added.

Ten years ago, 19-year-old Haseena Begum blew the racket when she lodged a complaint with the Chandrayangutta police station.

Haseena alleged that just two days after her marriage to 73-year-old Mohammed Jaffer Yakub Hasan Al Jorani, a one-eyed Sharjah resident who had come to Hyderabad for eye surgery, he deserted her to marry someone else.

What is common among these cases is that all are child brides and are victims of  poverty.