8-year-old child bride dies on wedding night

8-year-old child bride dies on wedding night

An 8-year-old girl has died of internal bleeding after marrying a 40-year-old man in Yemen.

Although officials have denied the news, Yemen locals have come out in their numbers to protest the shocking death of the minor. Highlighting the dangers and cruelty involved in child bride stories, the young girl identified as Rawan died on her wedding night after first intercourse.

8-year-old child bride dies on wedding night
Yemeni women attend a rally in Sana'a in support of proposed legislation banning the marriage of girls under 17. Photograph: Mohamed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

Arwa Othman, head of Yemen's House of Folklore and a leading rights campaigner, said the girl was married to a 40-year-old late last week in the town of Meedi in Hajjah province, north-western Yemen.

"On the wedding night and after intercourse, she suffered from bleeding and uterine rupture which caused her death. They took her to a clinic but the medics couldn't save her life,'' Othman said.

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Othman said authorities had not taken any action against the girl's family or her husband.

8-year-old child bride dies on wedding night
Child bride in Yemen

A security official in the provincial town of Haradh denied any such incident had taken place. He did not want to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the press. But two Meedi residents contacted by Reuters confirmed the incident and said tribal chiefs had tried to cover up the incident when the news broke, warning a local journalist against covering the story.

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This is not a scarce case in Yemen as a number of poor families marry off young daughters to save on the costs of bringing them up and also to make money from the dowry.

So sad!

 

Source: Legit.ng

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Khadijah Thabit (Copyeditor) Khadijah Thabit is an editor with over 3 years of experience editing and managing contents such as articles, blogs, newsletters and social leads. She has a BA in English and Literary Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Khadijah joined Legit.ng in September 2020 as a copyeditor and proofreader for the Human Interest, Current Affairs, Business, Sports and PR desks. As a grammar police, she develops her skills by reading novels and dictionaries. Email: khadeeejathabit@gmail.com