Mumbai qazi held in Hyderabad child bride ring bust

HYDERABAD: An

international child bride racket

has been busted here with the arrest of 20 people, including five Omani sheikhs, three Qataris and three qazis. Among them is the chief qazi of Mumbai, Farid Ahmed Khan, who is accused of being the kingpin and brokering the illegal contracts with forged nikahnamas.

Twelve minors were freed from the clutches of the sheikhs late on Tuesday.

The crackdown followed a tip-off from a reluctant 16-year-old girl, who was interviewed by a 50-year-old sheikh for marriage. This led police to four lodges in the city, which turned out to be dens of human trafficking. An Omani sheikh was caught as he was about to wed a teenage girl on Tuesday night. Five local middlemen and four hotel owners were also arrested.

Khan, 63, has been a certified qazi since 1975, says his family, including five daughters and son Omair, in Mumbai. One of his daughters said the police allegations were baseless. “How can they talk about forgery? My father did not prepare any paper. The marriage nikahnama of the girl was in Hyderabad and the witness had come to us. My father, on the basis of nikahnama and notary papers, certified the document,” said the daughter.

Khan’s daughter said the police had not even completed their probe but were levelling serious allegations against her father. “We are a respectable family and cops are making baseless allegations,” she said.

“My grandfather, Abdul Jabbar Khan, was also a verified qazi. We have been living in Mumbai for decades. My father translates nikahnama and other documents from Urdu to English. He verifies documents and certifies marriage certificates,” said Khan’s son Omair.

The family also showed a video of the girl’s wedding to a TOI correspondent, where a qazi was performing the nikah ceremony of the girl in Hyderabad. A few audio clips were also played, where the girl tells her family she was happy with her husband and had no complaint.

In Hyderabad, the police claimed the jigsaw fell in place after they began investigations into the case of another 16-year-old who was married to an Omani sheikh in May. A complaint was lodged by her parents at Falaknuma police station in the Old City in August. The police found the marriage certificate was obtained from Mumbai and the trail led to Mumbai-based Khan. A special police team from Hyderabad went to Mumbai and arrested the qazi on Tuesday in a joint operation with their Mumbai counterparts.

Police have booked the accused under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 370 (exploitation), and rape under the IPC, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The minor, who blew the whistle on the sheikhs, told the police about her ordeal. Speaking to TOI, Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy, said: “Minutes after these sheikhs land in Hyderabad, brokers provide them with transport and accommodation. They identify poor families and convince them to marry their daughters to the sheikhs. They conduct interviews with minors and broker deals with the Arabs in hotel rooms.” The police identified 35 such brokers in the Old City, of which 25 were identified as women.

Speaking to TOI, a victim, who was 11 when she was married to a 75-year-old Omani sheikh, said: “We were five girls sitting in a hotel room and he chose me. After marriage, he would thrash me on mistakes in household chores. Nine months ago, I managed to wriggle out and reach Hyderabad.”

Local agents are also responsible for coordinating with qazis in ensuring that forged documents like Aadhaar, birth certificates and marriage certificates are ready and then victims are smuggled to the Gulf.

“Sheikhs spend big money on brokers ranging from Rs 3 lakh to 20 lakh for minor girls. However, brokers pay a pittance to the families of the girls, who are exploited not only by sheikhs, but also passed on to others once they reach the Gulf,” said the police commissioner.

In coded parlance of Old City middlemen, Arab clients are segregated into three categories — autowallah, ambassador carwallah, and Innova wala. The first two categories shell out anything between Rs 3 and 5 lakh to brokers for child brides.

Brokers accommodate them in local hotels in areas like Chandrayangutta and Charminar, while sheikhs from the third category (Innovawallahs) are hosted in five-star hotels, police said.

(With inputs from Mateen Hafeez in Mumbai)