The ‘Arabikalyanam’ incident in Kozhikode took a fresh twist on Tuesday with UAE national Jasem Mohammed’s mother and relatives accusing the girl of moral turpitude. Jasem’s mother Sulaika said her son had married the girl with good intent and “if the marriage was proved illegal,everyone, including the functionaries of CIESCO Girls Home, should be held responsible.”
“Jasem had no bad intentions and the marriage was conducted in front of around 250 people, including senior members of CIESCO.
However, after his return to the UAE, we came to know that the girl had an affair with another boy. One day, she even went to see him in the evening without our knowledge. She also used to call him from her mobile phone. Knowing this, the boy’s parents and relatives came to the house and showered abuse on us. Hearing this, Jasem decided to divorce her,” Sulaika said, at her residence at Nayipalam near Kallai.
Besides, Sulaika added, “We were told that marrying the 17-year-old girl was not illegal then. Even the CIESCO authorities had not advised us about the consequences of the marriage.” Meanwhile, Sulaika’s second husband C Muneer said Jasem had faced stiff opposition from his father’s family in the UAE for marrying a woman in India. “As per their custom, Jasem has to marry from the UAE. He told this to his mother Sulaika and the girl after returning to the UAE. It was at this time that Jasem heard about the affair of the girl and decided to divorce her legally,” he said. Claiming innocence, Muneer said, “Jasem had given a gold chain worth six sovereigns, sweets worth Rs 4,000, a mobile phone worth Rs 20,000, spent thousands of rupees on buying her clothes, and incurred all the expenses of the marriage. The CIESCO authorities usually give 10 sovereigns of gold to inmates during wedding. He even rejected that.”
According to Muneer, Jasem earlier withdrew from the marriage proposal following objections from his relatives in the UAE. “The marriage proposal came through the relatives of the girl’s friend. After seeing the girl, we went to her house and talked to her mother and a person named Cheriyappoo, who introduced himself as the brother of the girl’s father. However, when he decided to withdraw, they objected and insisted on going ahead with marriage. Cheriyappoo was only a friend of the girl’s mother’s second husband. He is now demanding money for compromise,’’ Muneer said.