A mother in Australia has been handed a minimum one-year prison sentence after being convicted of coercing her daughter into a forced marriage with a man who ultimately took her life.
Sakina Muhammad Jan who hails from Afghanistan but resides in Australia, was found guilty of pressuring her 21-year-old daughter, Ruqia Haidari, into marrying Mohammad Ali Halimi, 26, in 2019.
The marriage was arranged in return for a modest sum of money.
According BBC, Sakina Muhammad Jan, who is in her late 40s, was convicted of compelling her daughter, Ruqia Haidari, to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi, 26, in 2019 in exchange for a small payment.
Six weeks into the marriage, Halimi killed Haidari, for which he is now serving a life sentence.
On Monday, despite her plea of not guilty, Jan was handed a minimum one-year jail term.
The judge condemned the “intolerable pressure” Jan had placed on her daughter.
The introduction of forced marriage laws in Australia in 2013 carries a maximum seven-year imprisonment. While there are other cases pending, Jan’s sentencing marks the first under these laws.
Jan, an Afghan Hazara refugee, fled the Taliban’s persecution and relocated to regional Victoria with her five children in 2013.
Her legal representatives stated she suffers ongoing “grief” over her daughter’s death but continues to assert her innocence.
The trial revealed that Haidari had previously been coerced into an unofficial religious marriage at 15, which ended after two years.
She expressed a desire to wait until she was 27 or 28 to marry again, aiming to pursue education and employment opportunities.
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Fran Dalziel highlighted that Jan, though possibly believing she was acting in her daughter’s best interest, had disregarded Haidari’s wishes and “abused” her maternal authority.
“She would have known that not taking part in the marriage would raise questions about you and the rest of the family,” Judge Dalziel noted. “She was concerned not only about your anger but your standing in the community.”
Jan received a three-year jail sentence, with the possibility of release after 12 months to serve the remainder in the community. After the sentencing, Jan expressed her refusal to accept the ruling to her lawyer before being taken away.
During Halimi’s 2021 sentencing for Haidari’s murder, a Western Australia court heard testimony of his violent and abusive behavior, including forcing Haidari to perform household chores.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus stated on Monday that forced marriage is “the most reported slavery-like offence” in Australia, with 90 cases reported to federal police in the past year.
In response to the rising practice, Australia’s parliament voted in May to establish an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to address exploitation claims.
