Melbourne Imam Ibrahim Omerdic found guilty of marrying child bride to older man
AN IMAM has been found guilty of marrying a 14-year-old child bride to a man 20 years older in a secret Islamic ceremony in Noble Park.
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A MELBOURNE Imam has been found guilty of marrying a 14-year-old child bride to a man more than 20 years older in a secret Islamic ceremony.
Ibrahim Omerdic is understood to be the first person to be found guilty of a forced marriage charge since the practice was criminalised in 2013.
Omerdic married the child bride to the man in an undercover ceremony recorded by the groom.
The young teen was married in exchange for a $1480 dowry and told it was her duty to obey her husband.
In the disturbing footage Omerdic is heard telling the girl: “If (your husband) is happy with something, do it. If (your husband) is not happy with something, don’t do it.”
“She’s very young,” he can be heard telling the child’s mother and her betrothed.
Omerdic performed the ceremony at a Noble Park mosque in September but told police he did
so only so the couple could be seen in public together.
He said it wasn’t a real marriage and denied any wrongdoing.
Police seized a Certificate of Islamic Marriage in relation to the wedding during a raid following the ceremony.
Omerdic argued the ceremony, at the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque, did not cause the couple to be married under Australian law.
But Magistrate Phillip Goldberg said the evidence against Omerdic was “compelling”.
He said the evidence proved Omerdic took steps to avoid detection by authorities against the illegal ceremony.
There were claims the girl was raped in the days after the ceremony but police have since dropped the sexual assault charges.
Her husband, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to marrying the girl only after striking a deal that saw two charges, including one of sexually assaulting the child, withdrawn.
Now the man stands to be sentenced only for forcing the girl into marriage during a ceremony at a mosque.
IMAM IBRAHIM OMERDIC, ACCUSED OF CONDUCTING A CHILD MARRIAGE, TO FIGHT CHARGE
Omerdic was immediately sacked after his arrest in November.
His marriage celebrant licence has also been revoked.
The Victorian Board of Imams has publicly condemned marriages which are illegal in Australia.
“As Australian Muslims we are required to observe and respect the laws of Australia,” it said in a statement.
The Islamic Council of Victoria has also released a statement condemning forced marriages.
“It is true that marriage at a younger age is permitted in other countries and cultures, but this is not a justification for marriage below the legal age or child marriages here in Australia,” they said.
In April Melbourne man Majed Mamosi became the first person to plead guilty to federal forced-marriage laws.
Mamosi’s was one of dozens of Victorian cases to be referred to federal police with figures show a doubling in the number of cases the national agency is investigating.
Federal police have investigated dozens of child bride allegations in Victoria amid more than 100 cases nationwide since the practice was criminalised in 2013.
But experts say many more cases go unreported because young girls fear retribution for speaking out.
Recent data revealed almost a third of all police referrals regarding forced marriages were coming from Victoria.
Federal police investigated 69 incidents of forced or underage marriage in the 2015-16 financial year, with 19 investigations launched in Victoria.
Omerdic will return to court on June 21.