Woman jailed for pressuring her daughter into a forced marriage wants sentence slashed

An Afghan refugee who was jailed for pressuring her 21-year-old daughter to marry a man who went on to kill her says not enough consideration was given to her traumatic background when she was sentenced.

Lawyers for Sakina Muhammad Jan say she risks deportation to her native country where, as a member of the Hazara ethnic group, she faces persecution. Picture: Mark Stewart

An Afghan refugee jailed for forcing her daughter to marry a man who went on to kill her wants her sentence slashed, arguing not enough consideration was given to her traumatic background.

Lawyers for Sakina Muhammad Jan say she also risks deportation to her native country where, as a member of the Hazara ethnic group, she faces persecution.

Jan, aged in her late 40s, was jailed for a maximum of three years after she was found guilty of pressuring her daughter, Ruqia Haidari, 21, to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi who murdered her six weeks after their nuptials.

She appealed her sentence in Victoria’s Court of Appeal on Tuesday, where defence barrister Patrick Tehan KC pleaded for mercy, saying her daughter’s murder was “punishment enough”.

“The case was quite exceptional in a number of respects, and in our respectful submission, called for the extension of mercy,” he said.

Mr Tehan said County Court judge Fran Dalziel did not give enough consideration to his client’s deprived upbringing when imposing her sentence.

Sakina Muhammad Jan leaves the County Court of Victoria, with her son. Picture: Nicki Connolly

The court heard Jan suffered post-traumatic stress order — which was not diagnosed at time of sentence — as a result of the wars in Afghanistan, the killing of family members and being forced to flee.

She was also married at the age of 12 to a man who was later killed by the Taliban.

“(Judge Dalziel) appears to have placed little or no weight on the applicant’s background of trauma and deprivation in Afghanistan and Pakistan prior to coming to Australia with her children in 2013,” Mr Tehan said.

Jan was sentenced to a minimum of 12-months behind bars after she forced her daughter to marry Halimi.

It marked the first time a person in Australia had been sent to jail for breaking forced marriage laws.

Six weeks after their November 2019 marriage, Halimi slit his new bride’s throat in Perth where the couple had moved.

A Western Australian judge sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Mr Tehan told the appeal hearing his client, who was a permanent resident, had been stripped of her visa as a result of her imprisonment.

While she had applied to have her visa reinstated, Mr Tehan said his client would be placed in immigration detention after her release and faced the prospect of deportation.

The court heard Ms Haidari did not want to marry Halimi but was overruled by her mother. Picture: Nicki Connolly

In July, Jan begged not to be sent to prison, telling Judge Dalziel through an interpreter she was innocent of wrongdoing.

The court heard Ms Haidari did not want to marry Halimi but was overruled by her mother.

During sentencing, Judge Dalziel said Jan grieved the murder of her daughter but had not shown remorse for her actions.

“You abused your power as her mother, as the person with whom she lived and respected, to override her desire not to marry Mr Halimi,” she said.

“Whilst you believed you were acting in her best interests, you were not in fact doing so.”

Jan sat silently in the dock beside an interpreter during Tuesday’s hearing.

She was supported in court by family.

Court of Appeal President Karin Emerton and Justices Lesley Taylor and Christoper Boyce reserved their decision.