Imam charged in Australia over child marriage

E-Paper | March 10, 2026

SYDNEY: A Muslim cleric was charged on Tuesday in Australia with conducting an illegal marriage between a 26-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl.

It follows the arrest of a Lebanese national, the “husband”, last week on child sex offences.

Police said the imam, reportedly Pakistan-born, was arrested in Sydney on Monday afternoon by the Child Abuse Squad and charged with solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person.

He was granted strict conditional bail to appear in court on April 2.

Last week police revealed that the Lebanese man, in Australia on a student visa, met a 12-year-old girl in the Hunter region north of Sydney in 2013 and allegedly became involved in a sexual relationship with her.

The pair then allegedly moved to Sydney where they continued the relationship, with police claiming the man and child were married in an Islamic ceremony earlier this year.

While child marriages remain prevalent in parts of the world, in Australia 18 is the minimum age to tie the knot.

The “husband” has been charged with 25 counts of sexual intercourse with a child between 10 and 14 years and remains in custody.

Police have not laid charges against the parents of the girl, but investigations are continuing, police said.

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Child marriage and Islam

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Jehan Mir , MD

Feb 11, 2014 11:03am

Keep him in jail till the girl turns 18. As far as Cleric is concerned ,his license to solemnize marriages should be revoked and given a course in local jurisprudence.

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Pavan

Feb 11, 2014 12:06pm

These guys are not happy in their home country - hence they immigrate to countries like Australia; and now they want to carry on and introduce these mindless rituals to the Australian society! Guys, if you wanna stay in a cave - thats your choice. But do not try to ruin an otherwise developed society.

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Sunil Sinha

Feb 11, 2014 01:14pm

Ban immigration of Muslims, striken with poverty, corruption, forced cultures, who go for better life to Western countries, perform the same rituals breaking the laws.

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Amir

Feb 11, 2014 02:16pm

Do not understand why we can not understand the laws of the country we choose to live in. And yet we go around criminalizing the whole process just because of the belief. Send the clergy back to Pakistan.

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zam

Feb 11, 2014 04:07pm

Keep this scum out of Australia.These are not humans by any definition.

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bkh

Feb 11, 2014 04:07pm

Bravo Aussie Police Our police is having to deal with sexual organ mutilation of women for religious and cultural practices. Number of prosecution are in the pipe line

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Mrs Shah

Feb 11, 2014 04:08pm

No one has mentioned the parent's role in this illegal marriage. The father should be taking the responsibility on his shoulders for giving approval and permitting his daughter to have an inappropriate relationship with this man even before the ceremony. It is not only migrants who have these views of child marriage, it can be locals brainwashed by extremist mentality. Islam says to obey the laws of the country.

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Khalid

Feb 11, 2014 04:10pm

@Sunil Sinha: Agree with everything you said however, you have too much anger inside you. Chill brother :)

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edwardian

Feb 11, 2014 04:33pm

@Sunil Sinha: Such a comment contradicts your statement seriously where child marriage is very common and acceptable in your society and country. Rape is another serious social disease with you. Put your house in order before pointing finger elsewhere.

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Khalid

Feb 11, 2014 05:18pm

@Amir: I fully agree but only after he completes his sentence in Australia. Sending him to Pakistan would also mean going scot free within days.

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Muhammed Ali

Feb 11, 2014 05:18pm

@Sunil Sinha: Would that be Indian muslims as well?

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mark

Feb 11, 2014 07:25pm

I think that clergy should also be made an accused as he aided rape !!!!

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Feb 12, 2014 04:21pm

@Sunil Sinha: It is people like you who need to be banned and your posts. What you said is racist. I cannot come as low as you have, but what if someone says here that about Hindu's or simllar Indian faiths ? As a Muslim, we are expected to follow the law of the land, so long as it does not infringe one's core religious duties. Coming back to the article, what these guys have done should be and would be condemed by most Muslims, I do too. Sexual relationship can only begin after the age of consent as per Islamic Sharia - the west has not created something new. Unfortunately, there will always be the odd few in the society that commit such sinful crimes and then people like you blame the 1/4th of world population - Shame!

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Yakoob

Feb 14, 2014 03:42am

Put the husband, the parents of the bride, the bridegroom (not to forget the Mulla) in Jail. In order to prevent these kind of atrocities throughout the world (for muslim women), would it not be better, if the registration of marraige is done in the family courts & the mulla can perform the ceremony there?

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