Italy has expelled an imam of Pakistani origin who sparked massive outrage after he was filmed in an undercover investigation citing the Qur’an as an endorsement for marrying girls at the age of nine.
On April 2, the Italian daily Il Giornale reported that Paolo Sartori, the police commissioner of Brescia, known as Italy’s Islamic “capital,” ordered the deportation of Ali Kashif, who told a reporter for the TV program Fuori dal Coro that girls can be married after their first period.
Brescia police also discovered that Kashif did not possess a valid residence permit to live in Italy and refused to issue him a new residence permit when the imam applied for the document.
Instead, Sartori ordered that Kashif be immediately escorted to Milan Malpensa Airport, where he was put on board the flight to Islamabad, with a stopover in Bangkok, accompanied by immigration officers.