Massarath, 14, married three Arabs within two months!

M S Shanker in Hyderabad

She is all of 14 years old.

She is also, today, a bride. Of not one, but three husbands. Each of them old enough to be her grandfather.

And this despite courts, laws, police, human rights activists... the works.

Hyderabad has, for long, been a happy hunting ground for holidaying Arabs who have discovered, in the poverty-stricken hamlets, a far safer alternative to prostitution. The modus operandi is simple -- their agents seek out young, nubile girls, offer their parents large sums of money as 'bride price', the 'marriage' is fixed and carried out with astonishing rapidity, the bride is carted off to some city hotel where she lives for the duration of her husband's holiday - and at the end of that time, abandoned by the Arab who returns home, his sexual needs taken care of without the trouble, not to mention danger, of seeking out prostitutes.

The reactions are pretty much predictable. Civil rights activists beat their breasts and lament the plight of women. Item: "How can such things be allowed to happen in a civilised society like ours?" asks Amrita Ahluwalia of Srushti, a voluntary organisation fighting against growing atrocities on women. Ahluwalia, of course, rescued Ameena, another Hyderabadi child, from travelling to Saudi Arabia as a child bride a few years ago.

How indeed! Ask the police. "Sorry, we are helpless," admits Hyderabad Police Commissioner R P Singh and adds, "Unless someone file a case, we cannot act."

And no one will file a case. Because the ones who are profiting have too much too lose. And the ones who are not involved just do not care.

Fourteen-year-old Massarath, meanwhile, becomes the latest sob-story -- but, by no means, the last.

Her father, Mir Akbar Ali, married her off not once, but thrice, to three different Arab sheikhs, within the space of two months.

"It's nothing short of prostitution," mourns the girl's mother, Shahida Begum. "My daughter has become a victim of my husband's greed, never in my wildest dreams did I think that my husband would indulge in such acts. Now, only Allah can save my girl!"

Massarrath was first married to Kameez Ali, a 50-year-old Omani national who then took her to a hotel in Mozamjahi market. The adolescent was immured there for six days, servicing her 'husband's' lust. At the end of that period, Ali took her back to her home and left her there, promising to return in a week.

One month later, there was still no sign of him.

Unfazed, Akbar Ali promptly clinched yet another 'marriage' for his daughter -- this time, to 70-year-old Ali Rashid of Dubai. Again, she followed her 'husband' to a hotel, lived with him for as long as he desired and, at the end of the period, found herself divorced by Rashid with the full knowledge and consent of her father.

Having discovered a gold mine, Akbar Ali promptly found yet another husband for his daughter -- 63-year-old Abdul Rehman Abdullah of Oman. Again, the ceremony was followed by the stay in the hotel, which in turn was followed by divorce. This time, though, a specific reason was given for the divorce -- Abdullah claimed that he had not been informed about the two earlier marriages.

Till, finally, Shaheda Begum decided she had had enough. The mother filed a complaint with the police against her own husband, who is now absconding. Helping the illiterate Shaheda pursue the case is Sharath Sanghi, a lady lawyer and social activist, and Priya Narula.

"The Masarrath case is not an isolated instance," points out Sanghi. "Many such innocents fall prey to sex-starved Arabs. Since it is a sensitive issue, social service activists alone cannot combat it. We need the co-operation of religious leaders of the minority community, if we are to successfully fight a menace that is growing."