Saudi Arabia: l5 Yr Old Forced To Marry 90 Yr Old Man
By AL ARABIYA WITH AFP A 15-year-old Saudi girl who was forced to marry an octogenarian has been granted a divorce after a local human rights group intervened, the watchdog said on Wednesday.
The Saudi Human Rights Commission (SHRC) raised the case “after learning of the marriage of a minor girl to an 90-year-old man in Jizan” in southeast Saudi Arabia, the group’s head Bandar al-Ayban said in a statement.
Al-Hayat daily had reported that the teenager locked herself inside the bedroom on her wedding night before fleeing the man’s home and returning to her parents.
She had been married off to the man in exchange for a dowry worth around $17,300, the daily reported.
The SHRC had provided “legal assistance to the girl” so she could get a divorce, Ayban said.
Another SHRC member, Hadi al-Yami, said the girl had “expressed her rejection of this marriage.”
The divorce was announced after a regional tribal chief and local dignitaries intervened.
Saudi rights officials have been pushing for a law that would set a minimum marriage age of 16.
The SHRC is “trying in cooperation with ministries of justice and health to prevent such marriages,” Yami told AFP.
Rights activist Suhaila al-Hammad says the authorities must “set the minimum marriage age at 18.”
Hammad noted that marriage in Islam must be based on mutual consent, and this was not satisfied, as demonstrated by the girl’s move to lock herself in the room.
She said the girl’s parents were also to be held responsible for marrying their daughter to a man the age of her great grandfather.
Jamal al-Toueiki, a psychologist, said forced marriage may subject girls to abuse and violence, and this could lead to their suicide if nothing is done to save them.
Saudi Arabia has no law against child marriage, and clerics and religious judges justify the practice based on Islamic and Saudi tradition.
The recent marriage of a 90-year-old Saudi man to a 15-year-old girl has sparked condemnation from human rights and social media activists in the kingdom.
On Twitter especially, activists criticized the parents of the girl for giving her to a man decades older than her.
In an interview, the groom insisted that his marriage was “legal and correct,” and that he paid a $17,500 (SAR 65,000) dowry to marry the girl, who is the daughter of a Yemeni father and Saudi mother.
The 90-year-old told the story of his first night with the bride. He said she entered the bedroom before him, and she locked the door from inside so he could not enter. This, he said, made him “suspicious about some kind of conspiracy” by the girl and her mother.
He vowed to sue his in-laws to give him back the girl or return him the expensive dowry.
Close friends of the bride’s family said she was frightened on the wedding night, and locked herself in the room for two successive days before fleeing back to her parents’ home.
The member of the Saudi National Association for Human Rights (NSHR), Suhaila Zein al-Abedin, urged authorities to intervene “as soon as possible to save this child from tragedy.”
Abedin noted that marriage in Islam must be based on mutual consent, and this was not satisfied, as demonstrated by the girl’s move to lock herself in the room.
She said the girl’s parents were also to be held responsible for marrying their daughter to a man the age of her great grandfather.
Abedin urged the establishment of a minimum age of 18 for marrying girls, saying this would pave the way for punishing violators, according to a report by al-Hayat newspaper.
Jamal al-Toueiki, a psychologist, said forced marriage may subject girls to abuse and violence, and this could lead to their suicide if nothing is done to save them.
In an interview, the groom insisted that his marriage was “legal and correct,” and that he paid a $17,500 (SAR 65,000) dowry to marry the girl, who is the daughter of a Yemeni father and Saudi mother.
The 90-year-old told the story of his first night with the bride. He said she entered the bedroom before him, and she locked the door from inside so he could not enter. This, he said, made him “suspicious about some kind of conspiracy” by the girl and her mother.
He vowed to sue his in-laws to give him back the girl or return him the expensive dowry.
Close friends of the bride’s family said she was frightened on the wedding night, and locked herself in the room for two successive days before fleeing back to her parents’ home.
The member of the Saudi National Association for Human Rights (NSHR), Suhaila Zein al-Abedin, urged authorities to intervene “as soon as possible to save this child from tragedy.”
Abedin noted that marriage in Islam must be based on mutual consent, and this was not satisfied, as demonstrated by the girl’s move to lock herself in the room.
She said the girl’s parents were also to be held responsible for marrying their daughter to a man the age of her great grandfather.
Abedin urged the establishment of a minimum age of 18 for marrying girls, saying this would pave the way for punishing violators, according to a report by al-Hayat newspaper.
Jamal al-Toueiki, a psychologist, said forced marriage may subject girls to abuse and violence, and this could lead to their suicide if nothing is done to save them.
Twitter reaction
On Twitter, Mouhammad Khaled Alnuzha @mkalnuzha, a legal expert, asked: “Is this a case of human trafficking crimes punishable by law?”
@sx84, who identifies himself as another legal expert, stated: "She is still considered as a product! A father sells his daughter without mercy, to be bought by money and status and power; all of it for the sake of fulfilling a desire.”
Nawal Saad @lhnalkhlwd wrote on his account: “When people of reason and wisdom are asked to be silent and the ludicrous are set loose, we will see these anti-human behaviors.”
Samira al-Ghamdi @SamiraAlGhamdi, a psychologist at a child protection center, wrote: “We need a law to penalize these acts … enough child abuse.”
She added that the story of the child bride should be titled “A 90 years old ‘buys’ a girl … or : A father ‘sells’ his daughter…”
@sx84, who identifies himself as another legal expert, stated: "She is still considered as a product! A father sells his daughter without mercy, to be bought by money and status and power; all of it for the sake of fulfilling a desire.”
Nawal Saad @lhnalkhlwd wrote on his account: “When people of reason and wisdom are asked to be silent and the ludicrous are set loose, we will see these anti-human behaviors.”
Samira al-Ghamdi @SamiraAlGhamdi, a psychologist at a child protection center, wrote: “We need a law to penalize these acts … enough child abuse.”
She added that the story of the child bride should be titled “A 90 years old ‘buys’ a girl … or : A father ‘sells’ his daughter…”
Comments