A mother, Sakina Muhammad Jan, has become the first person to be jailed under Australia’s forced marriage laws.
She was found guilty of coercing her daughter, Ruqia Haidari, into marrying 26-year-old Mohammad Ali Halimi in 2019. Jan, in her late 40s, arranged the marriage in exchange for a small payment.
Just six weeks after the wedding, Halimi murdered his 21-year-old bride. He is currently serving a life sentence for the crime.
On Monday, Jan was sentenced to at least one year in jail for the “intolerable pressure” she put on her daughter. Although Jan pleaded not guilty, Judge Fran Dalziel criticized her for ignoring Haidari’s wishes and “abusing” her power as a mother.
Judge Dalziel noted that Haidari had been previously forced into an unofficial religious marriage at age 15 and did not want to marry again until she was 27 or 28. “She wanted to pursue study and get a job,” the judge said.
Jan, who emigrated from Afghanistan to Victoria with her five children in 2013, expressed ongoing “grief” over her daughter’s death but maintains her innocence.
She was sentenced to three years in jail but may be released after 12 months to serve the rest of her sentence in the community.
During Halimi’s sentencing in 2021, the court learned that he had been abusive towards Haidari, forcing her to perform household chores.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus commented, “Forced marriage is the most reported slavery-like offence in Australia,” with 90 cases reported to federal police in 2022-23 alone.
The Australian government is working to address this issue, and in May, Parliament voted to create an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to handle claims of exploitation.
