Police Orchestrated Child's Islamic WeddingAMSTERDAM, 14/05/13 - An underage Islamic girl was married illegally in the Netherlands according to Islamic law following the assistance of the Amsterdam police, De Volkskrant newspaper reported Monday.
In the Netherlands the performance of a religious marriage without a preceding civil marriage is an offence. Nonetheless, such a marriage was performed, on the urging of the police. According to five witnesses, the police proudly presented this solution on 11 April at a workshop during a meeting on honour-related violence organised by the social affairs ministry. The Pakistani girl, who was in love with a Pakistani Hindu boy in her neighbourhood, was resisting being married off to a cousin in Pakistan. The police brought her to a secret location, because her family threatened to kill her. Meanwhile, the parents were spoken to. Eventually, they backed their daughter’s choice of partner, providing the couple would have an Islamic wedding. As a result, the honour of the family was saved and the Pakistani uncle could be rejected, according to De Volkskrant. |