17 May 2017

'As a wife, you have a duty to obey your husband': Muslim cleric filmed performing a 'forced marriage' of girl, 14, to a man, 34, inside a Melbourne mosque

Shaky phone footage showing the wedding of a 34-year-old man and an underage child was shown in a Melbourne court.

Muslim cleric Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, is fighting claims he solemnised or intended to solemnise the pair's marriage, which was not subsequently formalised under Australian law.

Police seized footage from the husband's phone, in which Omerdic, who was an imam of the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque, can be heard telling the girl it was her duty to obey her husband.

'If (your husband) is happy with something, do it. If (your husband) is not happy with something, don't do it,' he tells the girl.

'She's very young,' he can be heard telling the child's mother and her betrothed.

Police executed a search warrant of Omerdic's office, finding wedding materials, ceremonial garb, wedding readings and certificates.

The Certificate of Islamic Marriage also contained a disclaimer stating the document could not validate a marriage by Australian law. [Daily Mail] Read more