Saudi Arabia’s family security program has suspended the marriage of an 8-year-old girl to a man of about 30, after receiving a complaint from a relative of the child, Saudi media reported.The father of the bride wanted to arrange the marriage of his daughter to have access to her dowry as he had already done the same with her older sister when she was 8 years of age, marrying her to a 50-year-older man in 2005, according to the Saudi newspaper Mecca.
The other sister’s case had not been reported to the authorities so it could not be stopped, sources at the program told the newspaper.The program, founded in 2005 to protect families from violence, suspended in 2016 several cases of underage marriage, according to the newspaper.The vast majority of cases were due to the guardian’s desire to obtain money, the newspaper said.The program suspends the marriage of girls whose ages ranged from 8 to 17 years old who were forced to get married or were not ready to make that decision.The Saudi Arabian ministry of justice prevented in 2013 sheikhs across the country from marrying minors under 16 years of age without permission from the courts.In Saudi Arabia, the father has the right to arrange the marriage of his daughter under the age of 16, if he can demonstrate her physical and mental readiness, and when the marriage does not constitute a danger to her and the mother and the girl agree.Also, it is required that the marriage is not carried out directly after the signing of the official documents and without first preparing the bride psychologically for the demands of family life.
source:Herald Tribune
