A mother has been convicted of forcing her daughter into an arranged marriage in Australia. That man, in turn, then murdered the 20-year-old bride just weeks after their late 2019 wedding. And now, the mother in question has been convicted in court of coercing her daughter to marry in the first place.
Late last month, after a two-week trial in Victoria County, Western Australia, a jury found Sakina Muhammad Jan guilty of causing a person to enter into a forced marriage. According to the Sydney Morning Herald and other outlets Down Under, Jan had forced her 20-year-old daughter Ruqia Haidari to marry a man named Mohammad Ali Halimi against her will back in November of 2019.
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Tragically, that marriage went awry — and very quickly, too. Just a few weeks after the couple was married, in January of 2020, Halimi killed Haidari in their home in Perth. Per 9News Australia, Halimi was later convicted of murder in that case. He is currently serving a life sentence in prison, and will be locked up for a minimum of 19 years on the charge. But this story is groundbreaking now, because Jan was also convicted of her role in marrying off her daughter to the man who so callously and quickly killed her after the wedding.
Per multiple news reports citing prosecutors’ arguments in Jan’s case, she forced her daughter to marry Halimi in November of 2019 after paying him a $10,000 dowry. This came just months after Jan had met with a matchmaker in June of that year and arranged for an initial meeting between her daughter and the man who wound up killing her. Right from the very start, Haidari was adamant that she did not want to get married to Halimi. Prosecutors were able to prove in court that the late woman had told several people — including her teacher, a counselor, two driving instructors, and police officers — that she did not want to marry Halimi. Nevertheless, Jan pushed forward with the marriage.
According to WA Today, prosecutors proved that Jan was concerned about how her daughter had “lost her value” due to already being divorced after one failed marriage. Thus, the mother refused to let another marriage fall through the cracks. Prosecutor Darren Renton told the jury that when Haidari protested to her mother about the marriage, Jan dismissively replied:
“Are you my mother or I’m your mother? I can make decisions for you.”
WTF…
That decision led to a non-consensual marriage and then, weeks later, Haidari’s brutal murder at the hands of her arranged husband. And now, after less than a day of deliberations, a jury in Victoria has found Jan guilty of her role in setting the whole thing up. She will be back in court for a sentencing hearing on July 23. For now, per ABC News Australia, she is free on bail as she awaits that court date. What a horrific story. We send our thoughts and prayers to Haidari’s friends and loved ones. And we’re thankful that justice can at least be served involving both Halimi and Jan.
Such a terrible and completely unnecessary way to go…
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
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