A Sudani national was arrested on charge of forcibly marrying a minor girl at Moghalpura here, police said today.

Three others, including a woman, were also arrested for helping him in the marriage, they said.

The accused Osama Ibrahim, who worked as a project engineer with a petroleum company in Sudan, came to India after one of his friends informed him that he could get married to a girl in Hyderabad, they said.

Osama agreed to pay Rs two lakh in order to get married to a girl and accordingly came to the city on February 19.

One Mumtaj Begum introduced to him four girls for the marriage, police said, adding that Osama selected a 17-year-old girl.

Mumtaj Begum convinced the girl's family members for the contract marriage with the Sudani national, even as the girl refused to marry the national saying that he was of her father's age.

However, the family members got her married forcibly on February 21.

The girl managed to escape from the house last night and approached the Moghalpura police and narrated the incident to them.

Osama and others were in the process of getting a duplicate age certificate of the girl to show that the marriage was valid, police said.

One Mohammed Hassan, who arranged the contract marriage by taking Rs one lakh from Osama and Qazi Mohd Naseeruddin, besides Mumtaj Begum were today arrested under relevant sections of IPC and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

Search has been launched to nab the parents of the girl.