Saudi court set to hear child bride divorce case
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Friday, 29 August 2008
A controversial divorce case involving the marriage of two girls to men aged in their 70s will be heard by a Saudi court on Saturday.
The mothers of the two girls, Shaikha, 16, and Abeer, 11, have filed for divorce on the grounds that the minors were forced into illegal wedlock and were victims of domestic violence.
The case has sparked widespread debate in Saudi society with religious scholars and human rights campaigners speaking out, reported the Saudi Gazette on Friday.
Saudi Human Rights Association chairman Turki Al-Sudeiri said minors marrying is a violation of international agreements on children’s rights, and called on the relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia to end them.
And renowned Saudi scholar Sheikh Abudlmohsin Al-Obaikan has been quoted in the media that the girls should be granted divorce and the two men severely punished.
But the marriage contractor has refuted the charge that the girls were illegally married off, saying the deal was "perfectly legitimate”.
"The two guardians received SR50,000 and SR45,000,” as dowry, he said.
In Islam, a marriage is valid only if both the bride and her guardian fully accept it.
The paper reported that after signing the marriage contract, the two couples went to Taif for the honeymoon.
There, Shaikha tried to commit suicide to escape marriage to a 75-year-old man and was admitted to King Faisal Hospital in the city.
She was subsequently taken to a social care house as the authorities started to investigate the case.
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