Possible third trial for childbride accused as another jury struggles to reach verdict
An alleged father-in-law from hell accused of marrying off his schoolgirl daughter and threatening her betrothed to agree to the marriage is set to face a third trial and a sixth jury. This is why.
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A father accused of marrying off his schoolgirl daughter in a forced marriage could face a third trial after another jury was unable to agree on a verdict.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has now faced two County Court trials charged with causing a person to enter into a forced marriage.
But juries in both trials were discharged after they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Three other juries have also been discharged for various reasons since the man first stood trial in 2018.
The latest discharge came on Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors will now need to decide whether or not to run another trial.
A current suspension of all new jury trials across Victorian courts because of the COVID-19 pandemic means any new trial would be unlikely to get underway for at least six months.
The man is accused of forcing a 22-year-old Iranian refugee to marry his 15-year-old daughter.
He also allegedly threatened the man’s family and forced him to sign a $450,000 dowry.
After the traditional Islamic ceremony, which was filmed, the refugee was allegedly forced to move into the girl’s home and sleep alongside her on the floor of a bedroom watched by her parents.
The man’s daughter was just 14 when she met the Iranian man online.
They communicated for about a month before going on their first date.
Shortly after, they met each other’s families.
During his first meeting with girl’s father the Iranian man said he was chased out of the house with a knife while the accused yelled that he wanted to behead him.
Later he said the man told him “you have to marry my daughter.”
The refugee initially refused but decided to go ahead with the marriage after his family was threatened, the trials have been told.
“He told me if you don’t marry my daughter I’ll kill all of your family … I will kill you, I will find you,” the man said through an interpreter.
The accused man has pleaded not guilty to the charge and has argued the ceremony that took place was not a marriage, and even if it were it was not forced.
The matter will return to court in June for a directions hearing.
The man remains on bail.
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