Father who supported 16-year-old daughter's forced marriage loses Supreme Court appeal

The High Court had concluded the approach of the parents was influenced by "a perception of marriage which failed to recognise the concept of equality between men and women guaranteed under the Constitution".

A father who supported his 16-year-old daughter's Islamic marriage here to a 29-year-old man against her wishes has lost his Supreme Court appeal over being jailed for contempt of court orders not to facilitate her later departure to Egypt.

In early 2012, just months after the High Court annulled the girl's 2010 marriage on grounds she lacked capacity to give full, free and informed consent to it, the girl, who lived here from a young age, travelled with her mother to Egypt where it was believed an arranged marriage would take place.