http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=432476&in_page_id=1770
Cleric 'wed vulnerable woman to live in UK' Last updated at 10:39am on 30th January 2007 A foreign-born Islamic preacher has been accused of marrying a London woman with the mental age of seven in order to live in the UK. The bride's family, which is planning to sue the imam for abandoning his wife, has criticised the Home Office for its failure to deport the cleric. Mohammed Anhar Ali, who is from a village in Bangladesh, was granted indefinite leave to remain after the arranged marriage. The Home Office admitted today there was little it could do to revoke his status. A legal dossier on the case reveals attempts by the bride's local MP Jim Fitzpatrick, the Labour minister for London, and even her social worker to get the imam thrown out. But the Home Office has admitted once leave to remain is granted, a spouse is "entitled-to stay here in their own right". The Government would have to prove the marriage was a sham and the imam had always intended to leave his wife. Mr Ali, 36, married Bilqis Begum, 28, from Poplar, in Bangladesh at an arranged marriage in which he pledged to look after his wife. She is profoundly deaf and mute, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has severe learning disabilities. Mr Ali disappeared in September 2004, having secured indefinite leave to remain the previous year. Ms Begum's father Muhammed Abdul Matin is trying to sue Mr Ali, thought to be living in St Albans, while also attempting to have him sent back to Bangladesh. Mr Matin, 53, said: "He has used my disabled child to enter the UK. I want to see him sent back to Bangladesh. We want justice. He is not an imam. He is not a holy man." He claims Mr Ali took his daughter's incapacity benefit before leaving. Incapacity benefit for Ms Begum was being paid into Mr Ali's bank account. In a letter to the Home Office urging officials to deport Mr Ali, his solicitor Raj Mariaddan, a partner at Maxim Solicitors based in the City, wrote: "We have a religious or holy man who has used his religious background to manipulate those who were vulnerable and believed in a religious imam." A barrister, who has reviewed the case, concluded the Begums have a "good case" to claim damages. Bruce Tattersall stated Ms Begum may have suffered further " psychiatric injury" during her four-year marriage and the money taken "appeared to constitute ... breach of trust". He suggested the Home Office may have grounds to revoke Mr Ali's right to stay. The local mental health trust has written to the Home Office, effectively requesting it to reconsider its position. But Mr Ali's friends defended him. Rukshana Begum, 30, said Mr Ali had not been told Ms Begum had mental health problems when they married - only that she was deaf. According to Islam, by marrying a deaf person he was trying to do a good deed by God - but that he could no longer carry on caring for his wife. She pointed out he was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2003 but did not leave his wife until a year later. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
