Contract marriage: An evil of menacing proportion

Hyderabadis woke up with yet another report of a ‘contract marriage’ on Sunday. A Somalian nationalist was arrested by the Police at Nawab Saheb Kunta.

Unfortunately, contract marriages that assume menacing proportions in the Old City hardly get reported in local media.

Even this particular incident came to light when police nabbed Mohammad Akbar a broker under the PD Act. The detention of the qazi Mohammad Akbar gave new leads to the police as they have sheeted Abdul Rasheed, Syed Salman, Hafiz Mohd Azmath, qazis for performing contract marriages.

“Qazis should be accountable,” avers Jameela Nishath, founder of Shaheen, a NGO that works for the uplift of Muslim women. “Most of the contract marriages are not recorded, in some cases they are but the culprit never goes behind the bars rather it’s the parents of the girl who are grilled. The middlemen go scot-free as he has his arms stretched in Gulf countries.”

She says that the law should be made tough for the culprits.

Many activists cite poverty as the main cause for contract marriages. “Parents are under the impression that the children will lead a happy life in gulf. The reality is that they are being sold in broad day. When these children reach Gulf, they will be used as domestic helps. The sad part here is that the middlemen get the lion’s share while the hapless parents have to settle for peanuts,” avers Anuradha Rao, president, Balala Hakkula Sangham.

BY Chand Ahmed