Four persons, including a UAE national, have been arrested in connection with alleged forcible marriage of a minor girl here, police said on Tuesday.
Acting on specific information, a police team, nabbed the 47-year-old bridegroom Hilal Saeed Mohammed Al Hilal, a municipal employee in Sharjah, and rescued the girl from the contract of marriage on September 4, they said.
There have been several instances of old Arabs marrying young girls from the city here in the past. The families of the victims have fallen prey to Arabs, who bribe them with money and promise them to take their girls to Arab countries, but only to divorce them finally, police said.
In the particular case, when police reached Moin Bagh in Riyasathnagar area, the marriage was already solemnised by the Qazi. But, the bride was taken into safe custody and subjected to age determination test at Osmania General Hospital wherein it was found that she is a minor, they said.
During investigation, it was revealed that Mohammed Al Hilal, paid the parents of the girl, Awan bin Salam Barawas and his wife Parveen Sultana, a sum of Rs 30,000.
Mohammed Al Hilal, Qazi Mohd Waheeduddin, Awan bin Salam Barawas and Sultana were booked under relevant sections of IPC and the Prohibition of the Child Marriage Act, 2006.
Further probes are on into the matter, police said.