Posted on 04/16/2008 7:56:11 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
SANAA (AFP) — A Yemeni court on Tuesday granted a divorce to an eight-year-old girl whose unemployed father forced her into an arranged marriage this year, saying he feared she might be kidnapped.
"I am happy that I am divorced now. I will be able to go back to school," Nojud Mohammed Ali said, after a public hearing in Sanaa's court of first instance.
Her former husband, 28-year-old Faez Ali Thameur, said he married the child "with her consent and that of her parents" but that he did not object to her divorce petition.
In response to a question from Judge Mohammed al-Qadhi, he acknowledged that the "marriage was consummated, but I did not beat her."
Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, has no law governing the minimum age of marriage.
Nojud was a second grader in primary school when the marriage took place two and a half months ago.
"They asked me to sign the marriage contract and remain in my father's house until I was 18. But a week after signing, my father and my mother forced me to go live with him."
Nojud's father, Mohammad Ali Al-Ahdal, said he had felt obliged to marry off his daughter, an act he claims she consented to.
He said he was frightened after his oldest daughter had been kidnapped several years ago and later married to her abductor. He said the same man then kidnapped another of his daughters who was already married and had four children, resulting in him being jailed.
Dressed in traditional black, Nojud said she would now go to live in the home of her maternal uncle and did not want to see her father.
The girl's lawyer, Shadha Nasser, said Nojud's case was not unique. "I believe there are thousands of similar cases," she said, adding that civil society groups are pressing parliament to set the minimum age for marriage at 18
According to the little girl he did beat her.
Let’s hope and pray the “maternal uncle” is a decent sort, and that she’ll be safe there.
The female offspring is so much baggage, not really worth their keep and selling them for sex produces money for the sire. Sounds like a pig farm , does it not? Can you say sub-human society?
Savages
I’ll explain it: those “people” (and I use the term very loosely) are SICK!
We can only try to limit the spread of the sickness.
The only reason she is free is because this was made international news.
Accept multiculturalism? My ass.
Can't be a pig farm...I think they're Muslims.
What would third graders think about having a divorcee in their class?
Actually, the father says he sold her because two of his other daughters were forcibly abducted, and he feared that he could not protect her.
Of course that doesn’t make it better, it makes it worse. Evidently you have a society where girls can be freely abducted or raped, and the only way to prevent it is to be rich and have an army of bodyguards to protect your family. Otherwise your 8-year-old daughter is liable to be raped or made off with by anyone strong enough to do it.
And from what I have seen of sharia law, it usually protects the rapists and abductors and only punishes women except in unusual cases—or, again, where the person offended against is rich and powerful.
More confirmation that Islam is a religion for bullies.
But, Barry can fix Islam. What a guy.
Castrate this pedophilic bastard already!!
DISGUSTING !!
Oh, those wacky Muslims!
yes, how many other little girls are going through the same thing.
yes, how many other little girls are in the same situation that don’t get the media attention.
Give him credit. Barry has been supporting his Muslim cousin Odinga's forced takeover of Kenya by violence after he lost the election.
Muslims take over the world, problem solved. No one left to complain.
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