Victorian mother is first person in Australia to be jailed for breaking forced marriage laws

Key PointsVictorian woman Sakina Muhammad Jan has been jailed for three years for breaking forced marriage laws.Jan coerced her daughter to marry a man in August 2019 who murdered her five months later.The 48-year-old was found guilty in May of causing a person to enter into a forced marriage.

This article contains references to domestic violence.

A Victorian mother is the first person to be jailed for breaking Australia’s forced marriage laws.

Sakina Muhammad Jan, 48, maintained her innocence as she was led into custody for forcing her 20-year-old daughter to marry a man who would later murder her.

Jan told Victorian County Court Judge Fran Dalziel through an interpreter that she had not done anything wrong.

The judge on Monday morning jailed her for three years for forcing her daughter Ruqia Haidari to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi in August 2019.

Jan will be released from custody on a recognisance order after 12 months but faces deportation to Afghanistan once released.

Jan initially refused to sign the recognisance order, maintaining she could not accept it.

Her son also told the court it was shameful his mother was being sent to prison after losing her daughter.

Daughter coerced into marriage after divorce

Jan coerced Haidari into the marriage after the 20-year-old’s first arranged marriage ended in divorce.

Haidari was considered ‘bewa’ by the Hazara community, meaning she had lost her value.

Jan arranged the second marriage to try and restore her family’s reputation despite her daughter’s objections, prosecutor Darren Renton told the court.

Sakina Muhammad Jan was found guilty of causing a person to enter into a forced marriage in May. Source: AAP / Con Chronis

Halimi killed Haidari five months after their wedding and is serving a life prison term for her murder.

In May, a jury found Jan guilty of causing a person to enter into a forced marriage.

The charge was criminalised more than a decade ago, but no one had been sentenced on the charge until now.

Dalziel told Jan she had abused her power as a mother.

“While you believed you were acting in (Haidari’s) best interests, you were not in fact doing so,” the judge said.

Jan cried and one of her family members collapsed as she was led from the court and into custody.

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