- Title: YEMEN: Yemeni court terminates marriage of an eight-year-old girl
- Date: 16th April 2008
- Summary: LAWYER AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SHATHA NASSER, SAYING: ''This girl has been harmed. She came to the court to file a complaint against her father and husband and against this marriage which was imposed on her. At eight years old, they killed her childhood, the killed her childhood.'' INTERIOR OF COURT
- Embargoed: 1st May 2008 13:00
- Keywords: Yemdunc
- Location: Yemen
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Legal System
- Reuters ID: LVA62R1X7VDA5RJ1OEUD5392EIJ9
- Story Text: An eight-year-old girl seeks the help of the court to divorce her husband who she was forced to marry by her family.
A Yemeni court terminated the marriage of an eight-year-old girl on Tuesday (April 15) mainly because she did not reach puberty, while also ordering the child's family to pay about $250 in compensation to the 30-year-old ex-husband.
The girl's lawyer and human rights activist, Shatha Nasser, said the minor had filed a lawsuit in April asking for divorce and told the court that her husband had been physically abusing her and forcing her to have "sex with him after hitting her".
''This girl has been harmed. She came to the court to file a complaint against her father and husband and against this marriage which was imposed on her. At eight years old, they killed her childhood, the killed her childhood,'' said Nasser before entering the court.
''He used to hit me and threaten me and slap me'' said the girl.
One of the people attending the trial volunteered to pay the compensation, the lawyer said, but did not explain the reason why the court ordered the compensation.
The ruling terminated the marriage instead of granting a divorce to prevent the husband from seeking to reinstate the wedlock, according to the lawyer.
Under Islam, couples can resume their marriage shortly after a divorce, unless it was the third divorce, without going to a cleric or a court.
Legal sources said that although Yemen's law allows a parent to give a daughter in marriage before the age of puberty, it bans the husband from living with the wife until she is physically mature.
Many girls in Arab countries who observe tribal traditions are wed to older husbands but typically not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty and lack of education in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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