Teen Forced To Marry Man Who Impregnated Her As 13-Year-Old, Mother Convicted

A mother was found guilty of forcing her teenage daughter to get married to an older man, by a jury in a Birmingham court in the United Kingdom, Tuesday.

The defendant, 45, whose name was not released for legal reasons, tricked her daughter to go to Pakistan on the pretext of a family vacation, the Birmingham Crown Court heard. The daughter, then 17 years old, agreed to go on the vacation as she was promised a mobile phone if she complied with her mother’s request.

While on the trip, the defendant turned 18 and a little before her birthday, the mother divulged to the teen her plans of getting her daughter married to a family relative who was almost twice the age of the teenager. Incidentally, the groom — who was the 34-year-old nephew of her stepfather — was the same man who had gotten the victim pregnant when she was just 13 years old, during an earlier trip.

A marriage contract was created around the same time she got pregnant, against her will. After returning from the previous trip, the teen was forced to undergo an abortion in the United Kingdom. The case caused her general physician to become concerned and report it to the social services. It is unclear if any steps were taken to help the victim at the time, the Telegraph reported.

In the recent trip, the mother threatened to tear up the victim’s passport when her daughter protested against the marriage. After the ceremony was planned, the teen’s mother returned to the U.K. leaving her daughter in Pakistan.

It was only after the victim reached out to one of her friends on Facebook that the mother was summoned before the family division of the high court to be questioned. Initially the defendant lied under oath when she was asked if her daughter was forced to get married. The mother said her daughter was not married and that she wished to stay back in Pakistan, the Guardian reported.

When she was caught lying, she lied again to cover up her previously fabricated stories. Pleading not guilty to the charges of perjury, the defendant said she did not reveal the news of her daughter’s marriage on the latter’s request because the victim wanted to surprise her friends and family herself.

The 19-year-old victim, who was present at her mother’s trial, told the jury that far from being happy, she was deprived of money and not allowed to go out of the house after she was married on Sept. 16, 2016. She said that she cried throughout her wedding day, pleading with her mother for help before being taken to her husband’s house.

“We had to walk down the stairs to the stage. I was telling my mum I did not want to get married and she was holding my arm. Someone was taking a video. I was crying to my mum telling her I didn’t want to get married,” she said.

The defendant was convicted on two counts of forced marriage and a third charge of perjury. The jury returned a not guilty verdict for a further charge of perverting the course of justice. The defendant will be sentenced on Wednesday.

The case is being hailed as a landmark win after the U.K. passed legislation against forced marriage in 2014, and this is the first time that a defendant has been convicted after a victim testified in court against her own family.

Jasvinder Sanghera, director of Karma Nirvana, a charity for forced marriage victims, said: “I hope this is going to pave the way for future victims to have more confidence in the criminal justice system. Since 2014 we have not had one criminal conviction where a victim has stood up and spoken out so courageously about her experiences against the person who has the most responsibility for her wellbeing — her mother.”