Riyadh, July 09: Saudi Arabia’s National Human Rights Society has successfully intervened to abrogate a marriage contract between an 11-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man, who has six children from the first marriage.
Dr Hussain Al Sharif, director of the branch of the society in Makkah region, said the marriage was declared null and void at a reconciliation meeting between the two parties arranged by the society.
The society’s intervention came following a request made by her siblings. They urged the society to prevent the marriage, forcefully undertaken by their father.
Speaking to reporters, Dr Al Sharif disclosed that the society had received complaints from two brothers of the girl, aged 19 and 18, and her divorced elder sister, asking to intervene to stop marriage of their youngest sister, a fifth standard student of elementary school. “Our 65-year-old father is adamant in his decision to get married their sister to the man after arranging a huge amount of money and a car as dowry,” they said in a petition lodged with the society.
Dr Al Sharif said the two parties agreed to abrogate the marriage contract reached between girl’s father and the man. “The society also managed to secure an undertaking from the girl’s father not to get her married until the girl reaches 18 years of age. The girl’s eldest sister, aged 20, said that there was no way before them except to approach the society to save their youngest sister.
“Our position was weakened due to the position of mother, who supported father for the child marriage. My parents were not ready to learn a lesson from the bitter experience of mine. My father got me married to a man while I was 11, and later I was sent back home as a divorcee at the age of 20,” she lamented.
The intervention of the human rights society came at a time when the Saudi authorities are seriously thinking about enacting a law to regulate marriages and impose ban on marriages before the age of 18.
Dr Abdul Rahman Al Subaihi, member of the National Committee for the Care of Children and a specialist in pediatric psychology, told that marriage of children can not be reckoned as a common phenomenon in the Saudi society.
“However, there is an apprehension that cases of marriages of minor girls without their knowledge are on the rise in the society,” he said.
It is worthy to note that recent media reports about child marriage cases have triggered a big controversy in the Saudi society. Subsequently, human rights bodies and private agencies made a hue and cry asking for a law banning such marriages. It was noted that there are several factors behind such marriages. The role of licensed marriage officials with an eye on financial gains was also blamed for such marriages. On March 5 this year, the Ministry of Justice had taken as many as 43 disciplinary actions against such erring marriage officials, and the charges against them included undertaking marriage contracts without the consent of the bride.
-Agencies