Muslim women cheated into marriage

Help of the external affairs ministry as well as the Oman government is sought to rescue the two, writes Ashok Das.

The city police has sought the help of the external affairs ministry as well as the Oman government to rescue two young Muslim women who have complained of "torture beyond endurance" by their Omani husbands within weeks of their marriage.

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The two women Sameena Begum, 23, and Nazia Begum, 20, who were married to photos of their husbands by a local Quazi and then taken to Oman to be united with their husbands on September 25, phoned the family members on Tuesday alleging that their husbands (who happen to be twins) are epileptics and were subjecting them to lot of cruelty.

The girls complained that the marriage brokers at Hyderabad had conned them into marriage stating that the two Omani were young men working in the government and drawing decent salaries. But on reaching they found that the two were aged men and suffering from epilepsy and violent mood swings.

Sameera further informed her parents that her husband confined her in a room, tried to strangle and jump on her abdomen. Shaken, Mustafa rang up Al Hosni, the Omani national who had escorted the girls from Hyderabad to Oman but the latter demanded to be paid Rs 75,000 before releasing the two women.

Acting on the complaint of the parents, the police arrested three Quazis  and two marriage agents who had brokered the clandestine marriage. They were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. Police is keeping a lookout for Hosni, who, it was found out, used to visit Hyderabad regularly and broker marriages for aged and old people who could not find brides in their country. He had also married two women from the old city but deserted them after a brief fling.

Police said that they have written to the Indian embassy seeking its help. "Our priority is to bring the women back to India," said inspector Sai Krishna, who is investigating the case.