Australia jails Afghan mother over ‘forced marriage' of daughter

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA(AA) - An Australian court on Monday jailed an immigrant Afghan mother for three years for breaking Australia's forced marriage laws.

It is the first such case in the country that anyone has been jailed for such an action.

Sakina Muhammad Jan, 48, became the first person to be jailed for forcing her 20-year-old daughter Ruqia Haidari to marry a man, Mohammad Ali Halimi, who later murdered Haidari in August 2019, local broadcaster SBS reported.

Jan, who maintained her innocence, told Victorian County Court Judge Fran Dalziel through an interpreter that she had not done anything wrong.

She will be released from custody on a recognizance order after 12 months but faces deportation to Afghanistan once released.

Jan initially refused to sign the recognizance order, saying she could not accept it.

According to the court record, Jan allegedly coerced Haidari into marriage after her first arranged marriage had ended in divorce.

Halimi killed Haidari five months after their wedding and is serving a life prison term for her murder.