A 70-year-old Omani national was taken into police custody today for allegedly marrying a minor girl in Kanchanbagh here as part of a "contract marriage" (short-term marriage).
Sheikh Kames Mohammed Kames allegedly paid Rs one lakh to agents to "wed" the 17-year-old girl in a so-called "contract marriage", police sources said.
"We nabbed the Omani national who allegedly entered into a 'contract marriage' after paying Rs one lakh to agents," DCP V Satyanarayana said.
The girl has been sent for medical examination while further probe is on to trace the agents, the DCP said.
Earlier, the Hyderabad police had busted several "contract marriage" rackets in the old city area involving priests performing marriages aided by fabricated documents as well as rackets like pimps fixing alliances and foreigners purchasing "brides" for sexual exploitation.
The modus operandi of such agents is to trap minor girls from poor families, by luring them with money and then practically selling them off to foreigners with the help of priests who solemnise "marriages" using fabricated documents.
"Brides" are also made to sign on blank bond papers drafted to enable "divorce" at the time of such "marriages", the sources said.
