Re: A girl with a past?
No witness, you go scott free. You can’t stone anyone on a suspicion without admission. Random tribal law =/= Shariah.
The brother is now honestly honour bound to marry her. It’s the right thing to do morally, islamically, intellectually. Whether they have been physical with each other or not both of them will have to face the repercussions of this Romeo Juliet romance thing. The consequences are far far more for the girl than the guy who has a backup cousin in the wings. He played his part, made promises to her, probably flaunted their relationship in front of their peers so he must man up and take responsibility and fulfil those promises. Regression to desi mentality is not the moral or Islamic option now.
The brother does not need a wali and he can marry with the girl’s parent’s permission. His wife may never get acceptance if they do a shotgun wedding but on the other hand they may never get married if they wait for parents. He needs to grow up asap. He has some life changing decisions to make.
I know a first cousin’s couple who divorced because the guy had a steady girlfriend whom his parents did not approve of. The wife found out he was still seeing the girl and he refused to leave her, also wanted to marry her so they ended up with a divorce. The uncle and aunt basically destroyed their niece’s life because they wanted a seedhi saadhi girl for their already committed son.