A Sudanese national was taken into custody by the police for marrying a minor girl against her wishes. The girl’s parents were also taken into custody. Following a complaint by the girl, the police busted a contract marriage racket in the Old City.
According to details, Osama Karar Eltahir alias Osama Ibrahim (45) came to the capital on a 40-day tourist visa on February 19. He contacted his colleague Ahmed Yafai, who was married to a girl from the Old City. Yafai gave him the contact number of one Mumtaz Begum, who had performed several contract marriages.
At Ibrahim’s request, she paraded four girls out of whom he selected the 15-year-old girl school dropout from Moghalpura. Mumtaz Begum later lured the girl’s parents Yousuf and Ayesha Begum into contract marriage under the guise of ‘Nikah’ after which they would get Rs. 2 lakh.
Without the girl’s consent, her parents performed the marriage on February 21 at their residence. The Qazi, however, refused to give the ‘nikahnama’ saying that the girl was a minor and suggested that they get a new birth certificate declaring the girl as a major.
Parents threaten child
The parents sought to send her with the 45-year-old and threatened to kill her if she refused. They even permitted the bridegroom to rape their daughter if she failed to cooperate with him, the police said. However, the girl raised a hue and cry on noticing the police near her house, which had Ibrahim getting scared and leaving abruptly.
Two days later, the family approached a broker at the GHMC office near Charminar to get a new birth certificate declaring the girl as a major.
Girl escapes
However, the girl, with the help of friends, managed to escape and approached the Moghalpura police who registered a case against Ibrahim and arrested him. He was working as a project manager in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company Limited at Khartoum, Sudan. A hunt was on to trace the Qazi, Mumtaz Begum and her associates.
Moghalpura Inspector P. Vijay Kumar said a petition would be filed in a local court with a request to permit them to send the girl to State Home as she refused to return home.
He said a report was already sent to Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Embassy of Republic of Sudan in New Delhi explaining about Ibrahim’s arrest.
