17 May 2017

Mum watched as imam wed daughter, 14, to 34-year-old man: court

Footage of an alleged forced wedding ceremony between a 14-year-old girl and a man 20 years her senior held at a Melbourne mosque has been played in court.

Imam Ibrahim Omerdic appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he faces charges of conducting the forced marriage at a Bosnian mosque in September, 2016.

During the recording, as the bride's mother looked on, a male voice can be heard saying "she is very young". During the proceeding, Mr Omerdic says that the two should follow the example of the Koran.

"As a wife you have a duty to obey your husband," Mr Omerdic is heard saying in the video.

The footage, which was taken in Mr Omerdic's office at the Bosnia-Herzegovina Islamic Society in Noble Park, was played in court after it was seized by police from the groom's phone. [The Age] Read more