Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 28, 2004
Many Arabs wanting to marry a young
Hyderabadi woman or two for a price slip into the city on the pretext of
seeking medical treatment. That's how 73-year-old Mohammed Jaffer Yakub
Hasan came to be in the old Arab quarter of Barkas, where he married
three young women over a period of a few days. He is now in police custody.
This was his sixth visit to the
city since 2001. Not once was he asked by the police what his ailment was.
Unlike Pakistanis, Arabs visiting
the city are in the police' good books. The sheikhs are neither profiled
nor do they have to report to the police anytime during their visit.
Police feel constrained by the relative
freedom with which visitors from Arabian countries can move around
in the Old City They say it would help if they were empowered to keep tabs
on Arabs visiting the city, as on Pakistanis.
Arabs visiting the city in search
of girls to marry are not a new phenomenon, but the system of 'contract
marriages' is. Under this system, the suitor, usually an old man who
is not rich enough to find a bride back home, lands in the city, has a
shotgun wedding, spends some time with her and goes back home alone. The
girl's parents get a certain sum of money
Earlier, Arabs used to take their
brides back with them, but that stopped when the Gulf nations restricted
their citizens from bringing home a foreign bride unless they took prior
permission from the authorities.
As a result, instances of Arabs
flocking to Hyderabad for a young bride continued as contract
marriages started to `flourish. A number of brokers also cut into the action.
With the help of some Qazis who were paid good money, they would arrange
quick marriages for the Arabs. Divorce papers were prepared at the time
of marriage itself.
To avoid media and police attention,
some of the brokers even let out houses in Muslim-dominated Old City localities
to the newlyweds. The UAE national Jaffer, who was arrested on Tuesday,
was also staying in a house at Vattepalli and he too managed to get
two brides with the help of brokers.
The Arabs pay between Rs 25,000
to Rs 50,000, including money paid to the bride's family, brokerage charges
and rent, for each stay that might extende up to a month. For a second
marriage m the same period, as was done by Jaffer, they have to shell out
extra.
Police officers plead helplessness
to track the Arabs, which they do in case of Pakistani nationals.