Saudi Arabia proscribes marriage for citizens less than 18 years old
The Saudi Arabian authorities have issued a ban on all child-marriages in the Islamic country.
It also pegged the age limit for marriages at 18 in what is considered a major breakthrough in the call for the abolition of marriages to children.
Saudi Gazette reports that the order came from the country's ministry of justice.
The report mentioned the justice minister and chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), Sheikh Dr Walid Al-Samaani, as the official that issued the order in a circular to all courts in the country.
The circular said this move is in line with the child protection law of the country adding that the specialised court would now handle all such issues.
The report said the minister's order is in line with paragraph (16/3) of the executive regulations of the child protection law.
The law, it was learnt, states: “Before conducting marriage contracts one has to make sure that marrying a person under the age of 18 will not harm him or her and achieve their best interests, male or female.”
In Nigeria, there had been issues and controversies relating to the subject of early marriage among citizens.
The Nigerian Senate has also made some moves to regulate marriage and provide an age limit for those willing to go into it. This was, however, greeted by mixed feelings.
Earlier, a Nigerian man identified as Umar Ibrahim on Twitter had weighed in on child marriage in a tweet shared on his page.
The individual narrated a heartrending experience he had with a young mother.
Then, he spoke against underage marriage. In his tweet, Umar started out by begging leaders and northern folks in his immediate environments to speak against child marriage.
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He recounted how painful it was to watch a young girl struggle to carry a child on her back.
According to him, when he asked for the mother of the child, he was told that the young girl battling with strapping the kid to her back was the mom.
Umar revealed that hearing this made him shiver in anger.
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