Their efforts to clamp down on ‘Arab Marriages’ — unions between elderly Arab men and minor girls from the city — have led police to the shocking discovery that past victims have now turned brokers.
In the run up to Wednesday’s arrests, Police have identified as many as 25 brokers in Hyderabad, who are women. Among them are those who have been victims of Arab marriages in the past, senior officials reveal. “Some of the foreign brokers who we have identified also married a local girl or two, after they successfully facilitated marriage of their sheikhs,” a police official said.
The police learnt that foreign brokers find clients in their country and work with local brokers to zero in on a child bride. “After the deal is struck with a local broker, the foreign broker accompanies his client to the city. The foreign broker may choose a girl among the girls shown to his clients,” the official added.
The police also say that a few of the local women brokers they have identified in the recent past and the foreign brokers arrested on Tuesday are linked by marriage but are not willing to confirm such relationships.
After recent arrests, the cops have mandated that any foreign national marrying a woman from the city has to procure a no-objection certificate from their country of origin and should be in compliance with Indian laws.
Additionally, the police have also laid down that ₹ 10 lakh has to be deposited by the prospective groom in the name of the bride. An application for marriage with particulars of the groom-to-be has to be made to the Commissioner of Police. The marriage will be allowed only after the police nod, officials said.
Tuesday’s communication announcing the norms from the Commissioner’s office suggested these norms would be enforced only for citizens from Arab nations. A senior police officer clarified on Wednesday that they would seek to enforce them for foreign citizen of all nationalities.