One month sex tourism is gaining popularity in parts of India especially in areas dominated by poor Muslims. Under this scheme, parents marry their daughter to foreigners for one month and a divorce is solicited at the end of 30 day period. In return, parents are paid a hefty sum of money. This is an example of legitimate prostitution, Â as prostitution is forbidden in Islam. This practice is being increasingly popular in South India where foreign tourists are abundant.
One such case recently came in Light at Hyderabad, when 17-year-old Girl, Nausheen Tobassum  cooperated with police after escaping a “marriage†with a 44-year-old man from Khartoum, Sudan.
The Sudanese man, who was married with two children, allegedly paid Nausheen’s aunt $1,800 to marry and live with the girl during his stay in India. The marriage was reportedly presided over by a “qazi,†or Muslim judge who renders decisions according to Sharia, at Nausheen’s parents’ house.
After the “ceremony,†Nausheen says her parents forced her to consummate the marriage with the man, who had also been guaranteed a “Talaknama,” which allows for a swift divorce after the marriage interlude, upon the groom’s departure from India. Nausheen, however, fled her home, found police, and reported her parents, who had allegedly forged documents suggesting that she was 24 instead of 17.
A representative of Hyderabad’s Women and Child Welfare Society, Shiraz Amina, told the Telegraph’s Dean Nelson that there were up to 15 contract marriages in Hyderabad every month, and the number is rising. Amina continued, “Thirty to forty percent of families are going for the option of contract marriages to relieve their poverty. It has to be stopped.â€