Muslim cleric was charged in Australia with conducting illegal marriage between 26-year-old man and 12-year-old girl. PHOTO: FILE
It follows the arrest of a Lebanese national - the "husband" - last week on child sex offences.
Police said the imam, reportedly Pakistan-born, was arrested in Sydney on Monday afternoon by the Child Abuse Squad and charged with solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person.
He was granted strict conditional bail to appear in court on April 2.
Last week police revealed that the Lebanese man, in Australia on a student visa, met a 12-year-old girl in the Hunter region north of Sydney in 2013 and allegedly became involved in a sexual relationship with her.
The pair then allegedly moved to Sydney where they continued the relationship, with police claiming the man and child were married in an Islamic ceremony earlier this year.
While child marriages remain prevalent in parts of the world, in Australia 18 is the minimum age to tie the knot.
The "husband" has been charged with 25 counts of sexual intercourse with a child between 10 and 14 years and remains in custody.
Police have not laid charges against the parents of the girl, but investigations are continuing, police said.
COMMENTS (22)
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@reader: No, unless the partner is someone over the age of consent. Often, it's a boy of equal age so there is no "predator" just two kids who made a choice they were not prepared for.
Why millions of Muslim girls are forced to undergo female circumcision where their sexually sensitive parts are removed? This is done to prevent Muslims girls from doing it. There is no9 need for this if young Muslims don't do this stuff.
@shahid
Great response! Unfortunately, majority of our so called religious people are big time hypocrites.
"“12-13 year old girls are pregnant in most cities of America. But they cannot marry. LOL wat a fraud law!”"
Yes, young teens do get pregnant in the US. But, what you are missing is that teen pregnancy or marriage is not sanctioned by religion, laws, parents, society or the state in the US unlike Muslim countries.
@asif: don't try to change history.
@British: Leave Britain immediately and move to Saudi Arabia, but you will not because you are a hypocrite.
No one has discussed the role of Pakistan origin Imam. As long as there is no check and balance and some kind of certification for an Imam, such people will continue bringing a bad name for religion. These days Pakistan gets special mention in Western media for which the community is partly responsible as they start patronizing any illiterate who comes in the garb of an Imam.
@British you are very much right mate! here are so many hazards and still so called liberal people in Pakistanis are following the West. I really wonder why we, the genuine moslims, still want to migrate there. By the way are you in UK or Pakistan.
Doesn't Islam have some mechanism which allows you to strip the title Imam from these abusers or your faith?
what about the girls who get pregnant in US at the age of 12 and 13? do they hunt down the partners and punish them?
@Hmm: Kindly follow the link. Regards.
Hazrat Ayesha was 18, not 9. The 9 was in a weak hadith.
I live in so called child protective western society where its allowed between pre 18s to have extramarital relation and extramarital child but not marriage ... Is this justified. So called liberal people in Pakistan want to follow western society but they don't know the hazards what we see here. Point to ponder I think everybody will agree!!
sad,he ruins girl whole life :(
@PostMan: Who says this ? Mohammad also married a lady who was 9 at that time . It is blasphemous who says this and should be liable to punishment.
It's child abuse, it's rape and the perpetrators must be punished as severely as possible and the rest must be made to understand the physical as well as psychological consequence of this brutal crime.
Child marriage is an abomination! And No! Islam does not allow it. http://think-islam.blogspot.com/2008/01/child-marriage-and-islam.html