Sakina Muhammad Jan, a mother in Australia, has become the first person to be jailed under the country’s forced marriage laws.
Jan, the mother of Ruqia Haidari was convicted of pressuring her daughter to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi, a 26-year-old man, in 2019.
The court heard that the marriage was arranged for a small financial gain, and just six weeks later, Halimi murdered Haidari.
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Jan therefore emigrated from Afghanistan to Victoria in 2013 with her five children to escape Taliban persecution, she was then sentenced to at least one year in prison.
Despite her plea of not guilty, Judge Fran Dalziel criticized her for the “intolerable pressure” she placed on her daughter.
The judge noted that Haidari, who had previously been forced into a religious marriage at age 15, wanted to wait until she was 27 or 28 before marrying again to focus on her education and career.
According to Judge Dalziel, he remarked that Jan, while possibly believing she was acting in her daughter’s best interest, had disregarded Haidari’s wishes and abused her parental authority.
Haidari felt pressured not only by her mum, but also by the fear of damaging the family’s reputation.
She was sentenced to three years in prison but may be eligible for release after 12 months to serve the remainder of her sentence in the community.
After the verdict, she expressed her refusal to accept the judge’s decision.
During Halimi’s sentencing in 2021, it was revealed that he had been abusive towards Haidari, forcing her to perform household chores.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus highlighted that forced marriage is a serious issue in Australia, describing it as the most frequently reported slavery-like crime, with 90 cases reported to federal police in 2022-23 alone.
