Hyderabad: Hyderabad city police’s efforts to retrieve a Hyderabadi girl married to an Omani national have run into a problem as the girl reportedly told officials from the Indian embassy in Muscat that she was happy with the marriage.

City officials made the request to Indian embassy officials to ensure her safe return on the grounds that she is a minor and was married to a 61-year-old Omani national using fake documents that showed her age as 24 when she was just 16 years old.

It was the wedding of Rukhsarunnissa, of Falaknuma area, to Ahmad Abdullah Al Rahbi, which lifted the lid off a massive contract marriage scam and led to the arrest of 20 people including five Omani and three Qatari nationals and three Qazis.

The episode came to light when the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with the police stating her daughter was married off without her knowledge. She blamed her relatives, Sikander Khan and Ghousia, for the marriage.

However, police investigations revealed that the mother was aware of the wedding for which an affidavit was prepared showing Rukhsaar was of marriageable age; in India, a woman can get married at the age of 18. After the wedding, Al Rahabi returned to Muscat and the bride followed him two weeks later after getting her passport on the basis of an Aadhar card and marriage certificate.

Police officials say that problems cropped up between the girl’s mother and other relatives over the division of the Rs200,000 (Dh11,324) paid by Al Rahbi, leading to the case.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohammad Tajuddin Ahmad who investigated the case said the school certificate showed Rukhsaar’s date of birth as August 18 1998. “We have sent the evidence and the documents to the Ministry of External affairs officials seeking their help in returning the girl [home],”he said.

However, when summoned by the officials of the Indian embassy in Muscat, the girl and her husband appeared, and she told them that she was not only of legal age but also that their marriage is in order; she said she was being treated well by her husband.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad police are still searching for an absconding Qazi Abdullah Al Rafai, who was also involved in performing other contract marriages. “We have searched his house but he is absconding,” deputy commissioner of police V Satyanarayana said.

Al Rafai was already involved in two such cases and he was suspended by the Telangana state Waqf Board. But after the High Court granted a stay order against his suspension he resumed his activities.