Woman, four engineer sons arrested for tricking young girls into marriage

The men would marry girls and then deceptively smuggle them abroad

KARACHI: The investigative unit of Darakhshan Police claimed to have arrested four brothers and their mother, accused of smuggling young girls out of the country.

The family would have the brothers marry the girls, smuggle them abroad, and then if the girls returned, they would be forced to file for divorce.

The family has been engaging in human trafficking this way for the last five years.



According to South Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tariq Dharejo, a case was filed against Qudsia and her four sons, Farrukh, Faheem, Fahad and Alaa.

The petitioner claimed that one of the four sons had married his daughter and then sent her abroad where she faced abuse and inhumane treatment. The girl faced immense difficulty before she managed to contact her family who then approached Qudsia and somehow managed to bring her home.

Dharejo informed that the police first arrested Qudsia and then on her indication, arrested her four sons from Islamabad. Qudsia's sons are engineers by profession and hence were not doubted by the families of the girls who fell prey to their scheme.

The brothers would marry the girls and then smuggle them out of the country. Qudsia's brother, Afaq, who lives in Saudi Arabia facilitated this activity along with another accomplice of the family who lives in Dubai. The two arranged for the visas and accommodation for the girls. When they arrived there, the girls are abused and mistreated and not allowed to contact their families.

If the girls somehow managed to succeed in contacting their families and arrived back in Pakistan, Qudsia's family forced them to take Khula [a type of divorce whereby the woman forgoes her right to any sort of alimony or any assets or wealth that she might have brought with her at the time of marriage].



In this way, said Dharejo, the girl loses the rights that might have been fixed at the time of marriage and Qudsia's family owes her nothing.

The SSP informed that Farrukh has married thrice, Faheem twice, Fahad thrice with the fourth engagement breaking off before marriage and the youngest, Alaa has married once.

They have ruined many innocent lives yet managed to remain uncaught because most victims and their families did not report against them for fear of dishonour, said Dharejo.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2018.