Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Thursday asked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to rescue a 16-year-old Hyderabadi girl who, according to reports, was married to a 65-year-old sheikh in Oman for Rs 5 lakh.

The girl’s mother Syeeda Unnisa has alleged that her husband and his sister had forced the teenager to marry the sheikh from Muscat, India Today reported. Unnisa claimed that the sheikh had demanded that if his money was returned, he would send her daughter back to India.

Calling the incident “deeply disturbing”, Gandhi said she had asked the Hyderabad Police commissioner to investigate the case. She also appealed to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to intervene in the matter.

“I request Sushma Swaraj to intervene and bring the girl back to India from Oman,” the Union minister said on Twitter.