Child marriage racket busted in Hyderbad

Team Udayavani, Oct 11, 2017, 5:31 PM IST

Hyderbad: Haji Khan from Old Hyderbad works mainly in fixing up young Muslim girls coming from low-income families to Gulf tourist.

Khan allegedly dealed in two kinds of ‘packages’ for his Gulf customers – One is known as ‘pucca’ while the other one is known as ‘time pass’. Pucca meant that the girl would travel to the Gulf and the latter meant, the “marriage” lasts only during the man’s stay in India.

Khan is now a Police informed said that “We lined up 20 to 30 girls for each Arab in a hotel and he would select one. They (the men) gave the rejected girls Rs 200 to go back home.”

“The men came with old, used bridal clothes, soaps and nightgowns for the girl they would marry. Most marriages were ‘time pass’,” Mr Khan told a news channel.

The police have cracked a nexus of sheikhs, Muslim clerics and agents, who were trafficking several minors.

Four lodge owners and five brokers, three Qazis were also arrested, including Chief Qazi of Mumbai, Farid Ahmed Khan, who is the kingpin. The police said that they have identified 35 brokers in Hyderabad alone.

Often, parents are lured with money, and innocent Muslim girls are dragged into marriage to a wealthy sheikh. After reaching the new country, the women end up getting exploited at the hands of several others,” the police said in a press release.

“The agents are responsible for everything. From the reception at the Hyderabad airport to transportation, accommodation, identifying girls, convincing parents, interview between the girl and the Sheikh, coordination with Qazis, making sure that all forged documents are ready, and then sending the girl to her ‘husband’,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy told media persons on Wednesday.

“Several brokers are also women. We will open history sheets on all of them and track their residences, lodges, houses and even use geo-tagging if necessary,” he added.

The police also said that local brokers segregate their clients into three categories – ‘Autowala’, ‘Ambassador car wala’, and ‘Innova wala’.

While the first two categories take shelter at local hotels in areas like Chandrayangutta and Charminar, sheikhs from the third category get five-star treatment.

“They are accommodated at upscale star hotels. The agents will exhibit the girls at the hotels, or the shiekhs will visit the house of the girl or broker, to select the one they want to marry,” the police said.

The police said that they had uncovered the entire racket, as they were investigating a specific case of a 16-year-old girl from Hyderabad who was sold to an Omani sheikh. In spite of the Indian government intervening, the girl has not been rescued from the sheikh.