NEW DELHI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian police Wednesday claimed to have busted a major international marriage racket, with the arrest of 17 people, including eight Arabs, in the southern city of Hyderabad.
"A total of 17 people, including eight sheikhs from the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, and four Indian Muslim clerics, were nabbed from various parts of Hyderabad city for alluring young Indian girls into marrying middle-aged and aged Arabs," a police official said.
According to cops, these Arabs would marry young Indian girls on contract after giving their families money and then keep the females as sex slaves in their homes in the Gulf nations.
"The arrested Indians would assist the Arabs in committing the crimes in an organized manner. They are the ones who used to get Indian girls for the Arabs and then prepare the contract and the marriage deal," he said.
All the arrested men will be produced in a city court later in the day. "We will seek their police custody for interrogation to find out the involvement of others in the racket that has been going on for some years now," the police official said.
"This is a major marriage racket that has been busted. We have also arrested four Muslim clerics, including one based in Mumbai, for legalizing the marriage of many minor girls with aged Arab sheikhs in the past years. More arrests are on the cards," he added.
