Girls, 12, married off in UK

BRITISH Muslim imams are offering to conduct marriages with child brides as young as 12, it was claimed yesterday. It is feared it could lead to underage sex. An investigator posed as a father wanting to marry off his 12-year-old daughter to an older husband.

Retired imam Abdul Haq, who worships at East London’s Shoreditch Mosque, allegedly told him: "Tell people it’s an engagement but it will be a marriage. In Islam, once the girl reaches puberty parents have the right.

"Nobody should know about this. If she talks in school, social workers will take her. You and I will be in trouble.”

Imam Mohamed Kassamali, of Husaini Islamic Centre in Peterborough, told the investigator he would marry a bride of 12. He allegedly said: "I’d love the girl to go to her husband’s house as soon as possible, the younger the better.”

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