Foreign virgins are also victims of Arab sheikhs' lust
September 30, 20245 Mins Read
International Desk: Rehana was 14 years old at that time. She is the eldest among 4 sisters. Before he knew anything, his parents married him in 2004. The husband is a 55-year-old wealthy sheikh from Dubai. Thought, maybe the wheel of fate will turn. But the rules. The sheikh left Rehana at the railway station after a month of marriage. She had to return home pregnant.
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Such unfortunate events are happening in the lives of many girls like Rehana of Nashiman Nagar in Hyderabad, India. Wealthy and elderly Arab sheikhs chose Hyderabad in search of teenage wives. Here they marry girls on contract in exchange of money. Return them only when the sexual needs are over.
Sultana, the spokesperson of a private development organization in Hyderabad, said that Siraj Uddin, the auto rickshaw driver, married his daughter to the Sheikh in exchange for a huge amount of money. But after marrying the old Arab sheikh from Dubai, Rehana's life has more tragic consequences one after another. A few days after she returned home while pregnant, her parents married her again to a Qatari sheikh. This pot is 70 years old. Rehana dreams of having a family with her husband again. That Sheikh flew to Qatar with him. But this time the dream is broken. Her husband sold Rehana to another Sheikh after a few months of going to Qatar. He was then sold to 14 other sheikhs in the last four years.
Rehana once sent a message to mother Moin Begum's mobile phone in anger and humiliation. In the message, he said, 'Congratulations Ammi, you have got the 17th son-in-law for your daughter.'
Rehana's tragic life is not an isolated incident. Over the past four decades, thousands of teenage girls in Hyderabad have become contract wives of Arab sheikhs just to satisfy their sexual needs. Wealthy sheikhs from the Middle East bought them in contracts for money. When the sheikhs' sexual needs were satisfied, they would return the girls. But recently many girls came back after being cheated by Sheikhs and filed complaints. The administration is also shaken.
A few other organizations like Hyderabad-based private development agency Shaheen have now become vocal. Organizations are assisting the police in this regard.
Jamila Nishat, chairperson of Shaheen, said, 'Earlier there was no information about such child marriages. In the last 10 years we have received information about 500 such incidents. But we think this number will be 10 times more. We have received 100 incidents of complaints in the last year alone.
Deputy Commissioner of Hyderabad Police (South Zone) V Satyanarayan said, 'Only 9 such cases have been registered since 2010. With the initiative of development organizations, human rights activists and the police, now girls who are victims of such situations have started bringing complaints to the police.
In the last few weeks, the police have taken strict action against these incidents. The police are conducting an operation to arrest those who are helping the Arab sheikhs in Hyderabad, the brokers and the kajis who are marrying the girls for money. On September 20, police raided and arrested eight Qatari sheikhs, a Qazi and a hotel owner. A week later the Chief Qazi of Hyderabad was arrested. It is alleged that the marriage was arranged on his orders.
Bride market of Sheikhs: For four decades this Hyderabad has become the bride market of Arab Sheikhs. They come here in search of virgins and girls. They prefer virgin girls between 12 and 14 years. The guardians of poor Muslim families, greedy for huge sums of money, hand over their daughters to the sheikhs to fulfill their sexual needs in alleged marriages.
Mir Ayub Ali Khan, a columnist and intellectual of the country, said that Arab sheikhs have had a relationship with this old city for many years. Many Yemeni citizens live in the Barkas area. Arab sheikhs are coming to marry Hyderabad girls through them. And because of the lack of families, parents are handing over their daughters to Arab sheikhs.
Jamila Nishat said, 'Shekhras mainly like Hyderabad girls because of their good looks and attractive physique. They do housework with these girls. Many parents want to get their daughter married to a Sheikh at a young age. Because, they think it is a sin to stay at home after the girl's period.
According to police, sheikhs from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Sudan and Somalia come to Hyderabad in search of teenage girls.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan said the sheikhs came to Hyderabad on tourist visas and in some cases medical visas. Not all who come are rich. Some are also from lower middle class families.
The Arab sheikhs arranged a marriage with the girl as soon as they liked. In return, they give the girl's family between 50 thousand and 5 lakh rupees. Apart from this, they give beautiful clothes, gold and sometimes even houses. The girl's family, the broker and the Kazi shared the money.
Jamila Nishat, chairperson of Shaheen, said, 'Many times the money the girl's family receives is very less. But still they are happy that they did not have to spend anything on their daughter's wedding.
At the age of 12, Wasim was married to a Sheikh from Dubai in the 70s. He is now 27. He said, 'I had no idea about marriage and sex. But I was forced to do it with that Sheikh. Within a week I got pregnant. After that he went to Dubai to fetch the goods and never came back. I have a daughter. Now I do sewing work.'
The same incident happened in the life of Munira Fatema (18) of Mangalaghat area. In 2011, her stepfather married her to a 75-year-old sheikh from Oman. He said, 'That person took me to a retreat center and stayed for two months. It is a little far from my house. Every day he forcibly had physical relations with me. When I got pregnant, he fled the country with all the marriage papers. Later, he gave me three divorces over the phone.'
How to wear such clothes, it is like a famine of taste
Currently, development agencies are emphasizing on girls' education. The police have also been active in catching the cycle of buying and selling teenage girls of brokers and Arab sheikhs.
Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal based on Hindustan Times, Indian Express and NDTV
Source: Hindustan Times, Indian Express and NDTV and Prothom Alo.
