Mum forced daughter into two marriages: court hears

Sakina Muhammad Jan (centre) faces a possiblel jail sentence for forcing her daughter into marriage. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

When Ruqia Haidari became divorced at 20, she wanted time to finish her studies before getting married again.

After being forced into marriage at 15, she told a friend she next wanted to marry for love.

"I don't want another arranged marriage, I want to marry someone I love," Ms Haidari said, according to a prosecutor who addressed a Melbourne court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Darren Renton SC (2nd left) departs from the County Court
Darren Renton SC said the community needs to know people can't be forced into marriage in Australia.

But less than six months later her mother had coerced her into a second arranged marriage.

Within months her new husband murdered her.

Ms Haidari's mother, Sakina Muhammad Jan, is the first person in Australia to be convicted of forced marriage after it was criminalised more than 10 years ago.

Prosecutors told the County Court the 48-year-old should be jailed to send a message to the community.

"The community needs to know you can't do this, you can't operate in this manner in Australia," prosecutor Darren Renton SC said.

"The ultimate risk is that people get murdered, and that's what happened here."

Jan is facing up to seven years behind bars after a jury found her guilty of causing someone to enter into a forced marriage.

Ms Haidari told several people, including teachers, police and driving instructors, that she did not want to marry  Mohammad Ali Halimi, who travelled from Perth to Shepparton to meet his future wife.

On August 19, 2019, she told her mother she did not want to marry him, but Jan said it was not her choice.

Sakina Muhammad Jan (3rd right) departs from the County Court
Sakina Muhammad Jan faces deportation to Afghanistan if she is sentenced to more than 12 months.

The pair were married two days later, just two months after she had met Halimi for the first time. 

Halimi is serving a life prison term for murder after killing Ms Haidari in January 2020.

The County Court heard on Tuesday this was not the first time Jan had forced Ms Haidari into a marriage.

When she was 15 her mother forced her to marry a different man, which ended in divorce.

After the divorce, Ms Haidari was considered "bewa" by the Hazara community, meaning she had lost her value.

"That brought a level of shame both to Ms Haidari and the family," Mr Renton said.

"She (Jan) was motivated, at least in part, to restore that reputation by seeing the victim married and lose that status as bewa."

Jan held a position of trust in Ms Haidari's life as her only living parent and the offending represented a "significant breach" of that trust, Mr Renton said. 

Defence barrister Andrew Buckland (right) departs the County Court
Barrister Andrew Buckland asked for a community work order for his client due to her suffering.

However, Mr Renton accepted Jan could not have known Halimi was going to murder her daughter.

"It’s a tragic case, no one anticipated the outcome," he said.

Defence barrister Andrew Buckland asked for a community work order instead of prison for Jan, due to the suffering she has experienced since her daughter's death.

If she must be jailed, he asked for her to be handed time already served.

Jan, who continues to deny the offence, has suffered shame from her community and been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, Mr Buckland said.

"The very finding of guilt and the conviction is in itself a very significant punishment," he added.

Cultural pressures played a role in the offending and Jan believed she was doing the right thing for her daughter, Mr Buckland said. 

Jan herself underwent a forced marriage at 12 or 13-years-old, he noted.

"Had she known what Mr Halimi was like, she would not have let her daughter marry this man," Mr Buckland said.

Jan, who remains on bail, will return to court for sentencing on Monday. 

She faces deportation back to Afghanistan if she is sentenced to more than 12 months.

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