India has made great strides in GDP growth, life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy 70 years since independence.

But how does any of that matter when a 16-year-old is forcefully married off to 65-year-old Sheikh!?

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According to reports, the girl's aunt allegedly got a deal of Rs 5 lakh and lured the girl into the marriage with the old man living a 'comfortable' life in the gulf. She was also shown videos about a lavish lifestyle she might lead in Oman if she married the sheik.

The minor's mother, Syeeda Unnisa, a resident of Nawab Saheb Kunta, on Wednesday lodged a complaint with police pleading the girl be brought back to India from Muscat.

The mother charged her husband's sister Ghousia and her husband Sikander for getting the girl married to the sheik, who had come to Hyderabad before Ramzan.

Unnisa said she had refused to allow her daughter to be married to the sheik, but Sikander had got a qazi to perform the wedding at a hotel at Barkas, reports TOI.

"The sheik is saying he had bought my daughter for Rs 5 lakh. He said this was paid to Sikander. Only if this amount is paid, he said he would send my daughter back to India," Unnisa said in the complaint lodged with the Falakunuma police on Wednesday.

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According to the TOI report the 6-year-old Shiekh stayed at a hotel for four days with his minor bride and then fled to Oman leaving her alone with Sikander.

Sikander on the other hand arranged passports and other documents for the girl to fly to Oman.

Meanwhile, Falaknuma Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Tajuddeen Ahmed who is investigating the case told reporters, "We are trying to get the girl back to Hyderabad," added the police official. On the other hand, Sikendar is being questioned.

Maneka Gandhi Seeks Sushma Swaraj’s Help to Rescue The Girl

Soon after the incident was reported, Union minister Maneka Gandhi on Thursday reached out to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to rescue the minor girl.

I would request Smt. @SushmaSwaraj to intervene and bring the girl back to India from Oman. — Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) 17 August 2017

This incident of a 16-yr-old being forcibly married to an elderly man in Oman is deeply disturbing. https://t.co/FB4NbDtq8i via @indiatoday — Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) 17 August 2017

She also asked the Hyderabad Commissioner of Police to investigate the case and identify the persons who forced this illegal marriage and has directed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to contact the family members of the victim girl.

Have asked the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, to investigate the case and identify the persons who forced this illegal marriage. — Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) 17 August 2017

In response to Gandhi's tweet, the Indian Embassy in Oman pushed for more details about the accused Omani national to take up with Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.