A 16-year-old girl, R.A., a resident of Sweden, was taken to Iraq by her family, where she lived in a marriage-like relationship with a man for eight months before she was allowed to return to Sweden. According to Chapter 4 Section 4(c) of the Swedish Penal Code, a person is convicted for forced marriage for inducing another person into a marriage-like relationship, if it is concluded under rules that apply within a group and means that the parties are considered to be spouses and to have rights and obligations towards each other. In Iraq, R.A. took part in a wedding ceremony, during which, according to her relatives, she married the man in question. After the ceremony, she was brought to a room where she had intercourse with the man. After the wedding, R.A. and the man lived together in the same room. During R.A’s stay in Iraq, it was a part of her obligations to have a sexual relationship with the man and to, in the daytime, take care of him and the household. The Svea Court of Appeal ruled that R.A. had been a victim of forced marriage. The court sentenced the parents, S.B. and N.I. to compensate R.A. with SEK 120,000 for forced marriage and SEK 5,000 for unlawful threat.
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