Sakina Mohammadjan is the first woman in Australia to be sentenced to prison under forced marriage laws for coercing her daughter, Ruqia Haidari, into marriage. Sakina, who is in her 40s, forced her 21-year-old daughter, Ruqia, to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi in 2019 in exchange for $15,000. Today, she was found guilty.

Only six weeks after this marriage, Mohammad Ali Halimi, 26, used a kitchen knife to slit Ruqia’s throat and killed her. After committing the crime, Halimi called Ruqia’s brother and coldly said, “If you’re a man, come collect your sister’s body.” He then turned himself in to the police. Halimi has now been sentenced to life imprisonment, and although he may be eligible for parole after 19 years, he will serve his time in prison.

Today, Monday, Sakina Mohammadjan, Ruqia’s mother, who had pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to three years in prison. She also faces the risk of deportation from Australia once her sentence is complete. The judge sentenced her due to the “unbearable pressure” she placed on her daughter. However, Sakina may be released after one year and spend two more years under supervision outside of prison.

The judge explained that although Sakina herself was forced into marriage at the age of 13 and never received formal education, the message must be conveyed to society that forced marriage is illegal in Australia. As a mother, she abused her power by coercing Ruqia into a marriage with Halimi against her will.

This Hazara family moved to Australia in 2013 after spending 13 years in a refugee camp in Pakistan. Ruqia, the youngest in the family, was first forced into marriage in 2015—a marriage that ended a few years later. Afterward, Ruqia wanted to continue her education until she was 28 and build a career for herself, but the community she belonged to devalued her because of her divorce. It was revealed in court that Sakina, in an attempt to restore her and her family’s reputation in the community, forced her daughter into a second marriage.

The day before Ruqia’s murder, Halimi had sent a video of his wife to his family, complaining about her. He said that Ruqia would stay up late, did not clean the house, did not cook, and did not allow him to have sexual relations with her.

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