‘Married Under Sharia’: Teen Girl’s Ordeal in Qaraganda Revealed by Father

In Qaraganda, a 15-year-old schoolgirl was forcibly married to a 38-year-old man. Child protection authorities are seeking to strip the mother and stepfather of their parental rights. Orda.kz reports on what the girl had to endure in her marriage to an adult man.

Yesterday, a hearing took place at the Qaraganda Regional Juvenile Court, where the girl’s mother and stepfather stood as defendants. Her biological father was also present and shared details of the ordeal. According to him, the girl escaped from her “husband” and turned to him for help.

Three months ago, I came home from work one evening and found my daughter waiting outside my apartment. She said, 'Dad, everything is terrible. Who did they marry me to?' I had no idea she had been married. She told me, 'He treated me horribly, took me to an apartment, and kept me there for four days.' He sexually assaulted her three times. We immediately went to the police to file a report and open a criminal case.the child's biological father says. 

The entire police force was put on high alert. The perpetrator fled but was caught while trying to leave for Astana. He is now in a pretrial detention center, and police have launched an investigation under charges of sexual assault.

The stepfather, who married his stepdaughter to a friend in a so-called "Sharia marriage," also attempted to go into hiding. During a search of his home, authorities found banned religious literature.

The case is now being handled by the National Security Committee (KNB).

I want justice. I want to take my children back — my children. Besides my eldest daughter, there’s also a younger son and two daughters. I don’t want them living in that family or being exposed to such danger. It’s frightening. My youngest daughter told me they’ve already said, ‘We’ll marry you off later too.’ I don’t know what their motivation was. Maybe they were paid... We went to the police every day, didn’t sleep for several nights — it was incredibly difficult, especially at the beginning. My daughter stayed by my side the whole time. But I can’t forbid her from speaking with her mother. Over time, I think she softened toward her. They started playing on her emotions, saying her mother would go to jail. My ex-wife has two very young children from a third marriage. They persuaded my daughter to withdraw her statement — can you imagine? They know how to manipulate people. Yesterday, she went and told the police none of it had happened. She’s just afraid her mother will be imprisoned and lose her parental rights,the girl’s father explained. 

According to the father, the mother and stepfather also fabricated evidence, saying that, allegedly, the daughter had previously entered into intimate relationships and persuaded a certain guy to slander her.

The Abay District Education Department has filed a lawsuit to deprive the girl's mother of parental rights over all six of her children and her stepfather of parental rights over his two children.

The child was married off. The child stated this at the Commission on Minors’ Affairs. She had been away from home for five days, and during that time, the mother never contacted the police. Therefore, the commission found grounds to file a lawsuit based on this incident. There are also several other girls in the family,said Marina Strelnikova, chief specialist of the district education department. 

Even the girl's grandfather, the mother's father, agrees with her:

Since their divorce, I haven’t spoken to my daughter. We have different views. I believe the children should be taken away from their mother and that she should be held accountable — my own daughter included. It breaks my heart that they essentially sold my granddaughter. My son-in-law and I are ready to raise the children ourselves,said the grandfather. 

Before the incident, the mother withdrew her daughter from a Qaraganda school and enrolled her in online education at a private school in Almaty.

However, even there, no concerns were raised when the girl failed to attend classes for five days.

Despite this, the court rejected the guardianship authorities’ request, stating that the matter would be addressed as part of the ongoing criminal investigation. For now, all four children are staying with their biological father, who plans to petition the court for full custody.

Original Author: Inna Rutz