A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.
The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.
The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled the girl's mother -- who is separated from the girl's father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, according to Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's lawyer.
1 comment:
Hmph...I'm disgusted by this case. So does this mean that sex with minors are lega there? I wish the mom all the best because this is not a good environment for this CHILD to be in neither mentally nor YUCK, sexually. I would like to think that this man is not intimate with her but then again the sickening realities of life and the disgust of older men preying on young girls seeing them as fresh meat. So the Child's father sold his daughter's innocence and freedom to gracefully enter womanhood because of financial trauma. I dont care about the legal constraints of this case, this sort of issue calls for moral and ethical comprehension and analysis that obviously intially went haywire when this child's father-by biological terms only-decided to sell her as physical good for debt settlement.
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