The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the state government to file its reply on a petition filed by the mother of a minor who was forcibly married to a UAE national and later abandoned, seeking proper investigation and prosecution of real culprits.

Giving the directive, Justice P Bhavadasan posted the case after ten days for hearing. The petitioner submitted that her 17-year-old daughter belonging to Malappuram District was forced to marry a foreign citizen from UAE against the victim's "wish and will".

The minor was raped and later abandoned by her husband. There were ten accused, including the UAE national Jasim Mohammed Abdul Kareem, in the case registered by Malappuram Police. But no action had been taken to arrest the accused and to procure the presence of the UAE citizen, the petitioner submitted.

She sought a direction to extradite the UAE citizen, the first accused in the case, and to entrust in investigation to a superior officer for a proper and effective probe.

The issue came to light in August when the girl, approached the Child Welfare Committee alleging that the charity home authorities, where she had been staying, forced her to marry the man from UAE.
 

The girl's plight triggered demands for a strong legislation to check the social menace known in local parlance as 'Arabi Kalyanam' (Arab wedding) in which minor Muslim girls are forced into marriage with Arab nationals without their consent.

Amid the public outcry Police had booked the UAE national and nine others.