A Muslim man in the state of West Bengal, India, married his daughter and made her pregnant claiming he had divine sanction for his incestuous act, officials said Monday.
Afazuddin Ali, 36, who has five children, married his 15 year old eldest daughter six months back. He informed his wife Sakina of his decision claiming that he had divine sanction from Allah.
BBC News reports Sakina saying that her husband "is a deeply religious man and will never lie in the name of Allah."
"I agreed to his marriage with our eldest daughter when he invoked divine sanction."
The truth finally came out when people in Ali's village started questioning the girl's obvious signs of pregnancy.
The villagers were incensed when told the truth and were thinking of resorting to physical violence against the family when local police intervened and arrested Ali, Sakina and their 15-year-old daughter.
"We didn't know she was married so when we confronted his wife, she told us about the bizarre marriage six months ago", BBC News quotes Sheikh Ramzan, a village leader saying.
"We wanted to smash his head, we were so angry", he added.
They were taken to a magistrate on Monday but were set free on technical ground. The court has no criminal jurisdiction, no formal complaint had been lodged and the police did not file a case of statutory rape against Ali.
The villagers are not happy with the outcome. They feel Ali should at least face criminal charges for marrying a minor, reports BBC.
Fearing further attacks, Ali and his wife have not returned to the village.
