HYDERABAD: A day after the police stumbled upon a fresh case of an illegal contract marriage of a Bahrain national in the city, it has been found that his bride from Talbakatta in the Old City is a 27-year-old woman and not a minor. On the basis of information gathered from a city-based contract marriage broker, the police detained the Bahrain man on Saturday night on the charge of marrying a minor.
“Two marriage brokers, one a Hyderabadi and another from Bahrain, have also been detained along with the Bahrain national. A special team of south zone police detained them,” said DCP (south zone) V Satyanarayana.
Following the detentions, the police are now searching for the Bahrain man’s bride and the qazi who conducted their marriage. “The Bahrain man, who had come to Hyderabad last week, married one woman from Talabkatta. We have recovered a marriage certificate, his passport and a few thousand Indian currency notes from his possession. The trio is undergoing rigorous questioning and a police team is actively searching for the woman,” the DCP said.
SHO of Falaknuma police P Yadagiri, when asked about the case, said, “Even when the bride in the contract marriage is an adult, if her marriage to an Arab national has taken place without the support of documents signed by an authorised Wakf Board official and government representative, it will be regarded as an illegal contract marriage.”
In connection with the contract marriage investigation involving minors, information about a contract marriage broker Arif having bought a house for Rs 22 lakh has also come to light.
In the past, Arif had been arrested by city police for arranging the marriage of a Qatar national to Hyderabadi minor girls.