Child bride in Yemen dies of internal bleeding on wedding night

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

SANAA (Reuters) - An eight-year-old Yemeni girl died of internal bleeding on her wedding night after marrying a man five times her age, a social activist and two local residents said, in a case that has caused an outcry in the media and revived debate about child brides.Arwa Othman, head of Yemen House of Folklore and a leading rights campaigner, said the girl, identified only as Rawan, was married to a 40-year-old man late last week in the town of Meedi in Hajjah province in northwestern Yemen. "On the wedding night and after intercourse, she suffered from bleeding and uterine rupture which caused her death," Othman told Reuters. "They took her to a clinic but the medics couldn't save her life."

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

Get the rope....

http://news.yahoo.com/child-bride-yemen-dies-internal-bleeding-wedding-night-165832059.html

[Jacque67 7,328]

Horrific.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

This story ended up being totally fake but doesn't stop the news outlets from making headlines. It's common for these stories to prove false in Yemen. I think it's a great way for rival clans and feuding families to embarass or hurt the reputation of one another. It's also a great way for international NGOs to stir up more money for their budgets.

Child marriage does still happen in Yemen's poorest regions as it does in other very poor communities in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, etc. Very poor families sell off their children to pay off debts. Has nothing to do with the religion because among middle class and upper class Yemenis it's unheard of to marry off a child.

Even if this story was the real deal, this was my Yemeni fiance's response:

"The husband, child's father, and imam who performed the marriage should all be executed."

http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=7198

Yemen's faces false child marriage accusations

Earlier this week Kuwaiti newspaper caught wind of the death of an eight-year old Yemeni school girl, Rawan, who reportedly had died from internal injuries on her wedding night in the northern province of Hajja.

Outraged by the report of yet another senseless child-bride's death in Yemen incensed Kuwaitis and prompted calls for immediate and harsh sanctions against whoever was involved in allowing a pre-pubescent eight-years old Yemeni school girl to marry a man five times her age.

As the news spread like wild fire, netizens took their protests to Twitter, Facebook and their personal blog, determined to protest child marriage and what they perceived as child abuse.

Rights activists both in Kuwait and Yemen have reacted to the report and urged the Yemeni authorities to pursue the matter legally, and thus send a strong message that Yemen would not stand for the abuse of its children.

A Kuwaiti blogger urged the Yemeni government to severely punish "the beastly groom". Another angry netizen branded the groom, "an animal who deserved to be punished severely for his crime." He continued, "All those who supported such a crime should also be punished."

A netizen going by the name, Bu Omar wrote, "Rawan’s family members are not humans. They do not deserve to have children."

Child marriage has always been a contention and controversial issue in Yemen with religious authorities having argued that Islam does not put an age limit per se on marriage and instead only requires that enlightened concent be given.

Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the highest religious body in the Sunni world, has released a manual on the rights of Muslim children which reads "Marriage in Islam is regulated by certain rules, namely, children must reach puberty and maturity so that they can get married."

A Kuwaiti blogger urged the Yemeni government to severely punish "the beastly groom". Another angry netizen branded the groom, "an animal who deserved to be punished severely for his crime." He continued, "All those who supported such a crime should also be punished."

As outrage is growing in magnitude as more media have picked up Rawan's tale, the Yemen Post set out to investigate the matter, determined to shed light on such grave allegations of abuse.

As it turned out, news outlets seem to have jumped to the wrong conclusion, basing their reports on assumptions and mis-apprehensions rather than facts.

Local security officials and journalists in Hajja have denied media reports in block, rejecting Mohammad Radman's version of event. Radman first broke the story after hearing a testimony from Rawan's neighbors.

Standing by his story, Radman has confirmed that his sources are willing to testify before a court of law should the need arisen.

Mosleh Al Azzani, the director of Criminal Investigation in Harradh district where the marriage allegedly took place told reporters he confronted Rawan's father on the matter.

“When I heard the rumours, I called the girl’s father. He came with his daughter and denied the marriage and death of his daughter. I have the photos of the girl and will show it to anyone.”
Aziz Saleh, a local investigative journalist also confirmed that he personally contacted the authorities and received assurances that media reports had been fabricated.

“All of them maintained that neither the marriage nor death had taken place,” he said.

Back in Sana'a, Ahmed al-Qurishi, the head of SEYAJ Organization for Childhood Protection, an NGO which advocates children’s rights also told reporters on Monday that Radman' story is but a work of fiction.

Al-Qurishi stressed, "I got in touch with the director of Criminal Investigation, Hajja’s prosecutor and the province’s security chief who all flatly denied the story,” he said.

Al Qurishi said that his organization conducted its own investigation into the issue by sending some activists to the area.” The preliminary results show that the story was untrue."
He added “Some people create these stories to get publicity and attention and aid from international organizations."

It is the second time in less than six months that Yemen has to face false child marriage accusations.

This is sadly taking away from the real victims of abuse as their pain and suffering is being trivialized by attention seekers and ill-wishers.

*With additional reporting from gulf news

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

This story ended up being totally fake but doesn't stop the news outlets from making headlines. It's common for these stories to prove false in Yemen. I think it's a great way for rival clans and feuding families to embarass or hurt the reputation of one another. It's also a great way for international NGOs to stir up more money for their budgets.

Child marriage does still happen in Yemen's poorest regions as it does in other very poor communities in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, etc. Very poor families sell off their children to pay off debts. Has nothing to do with the religion because among middle class and upper class Yemenis it's unheard of to marry off a child.

Even if this story was the real deal, this was my Yemeni fiance's response:

"The husband, child's father, and imam who performed the marriage should all be executed."

Glad you shed some light on this. I wasn't even focused on the Muslim side of this, since it's my religion as well. I was looking soley at the alleged perp.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

Glad you shed some light on this. I wasn't even focused on the Muslim side of this, since it's my religion as well. I was looking soley at the alleged perp.

Lol true. I smelled Islamophobia brewing when this story appeared this week. Not to say this sort of thing hasn't happened, but the tragedy in it is that extreme poverty drives people to do unthinkable things. Like sell off their children.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

SANAA (Reuters) - An eight-year-old Yemeni girl died of internal bleeding on her wedding night after marrying a man five times her age, a social activist and two local residents said, in a case that has caused an outcry in the media and revived debate about child brides.Arwa Othman, head of Yemen House of Folklore and a leading rights campaigner, said the girl, identified only as Rawan, was married to a 40-year-old man late last week in the town of Meedi in Hajjah province in northwestern Yemen. "On the wedding night and after intercourse, she suffered from bleeding and uterine rupture which caused her death," Othman told Reuters. "They took her to a clinic but the medics couldn't save her life."

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

Get the rope....

http://news.yahoo.com/child-bride-yemen-dies-internal-bleeding-wedding-night-165832059.html

wait..it's a sick story posted by you about Muslims ?

Can you go ahead and tell us your angle, so i know howto respond?

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

wait..it's a sick story posted by you about Muslims ?

Can you go ahead and tell us your angle, so i know howto respond?

I don't think Marvin was focused on the religious angle at all - more like deplorable acts are deplorable regardless of who commits them.

The story was a fake regardless, and I'd say it is moot except it begs the question why these fake tales are disseminated. I'm willing to bet money on the aid agencies stirring the pot in hopes more donation and grant money will fall out. NGOs (especially the international ones) in Yemen are all corrupt. Spend 80% of their funding on overhead and foreign staff salaries. They leave nothing but moldy bread and expired drugs for the vulnerable populations they claim to help. That I find pathetic and disgusting, and it's a true story.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

wait..it's a sick story posted by you about Muslims ?

Can you go ahead and tell us your angle, so i know howto respond?

I didn't even look at the religious side of this. I was focused on the act itself.

I don't think Marvin was focused on the religious angle at all - more like deplorable acts are deplorable regardless of who commits them.

The story was a fake regardless, and I'd say it is moot except it begs the question why these fake tales are disseminated. I'm willing to bet money on the aid agencies stirring the pot in hopes more donation and grant money will fall out. NGOs (especially the international ones) in Yemen are all corrupt. Spend 80% of their funding on overhead and foreign staff salaries. They leave nothing but moldy bread and expired drugs for the vulnerable populations they claim to help. That I find pathetic and disgusting, and it's a true story.

Yep, I don't care what you are, if you're sick you can get the business.

[duraaraa 203]

It baffles me why anyone would want to marry an eight year old girl in the first place.

Then again, Muhammad and Aisha consummated their marriage when Aisha was 9, according to wikipedia...

[decocker 7,198]

gross.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

It baffles me why anyone would want to marry an eight year old girl in the first place.

Then again, Muhammad and Aisha consummated their marriage when Aisha was 9, according to wikipedia...

More like 14 or 15:

A great misconception prevails as to the age at which Aisha was taken in marriage by the Prophet. Ibn Sa‘d has stated in the Tabaqat that when Abu Bakr [father of Aisha] was approached on behalf of the Holy Prophet, he replied that the girl had already been betrothed to Jubair, and that he would have to settle the matter first with him. This shows that Aisha must have been approaching majority at the time. Again, the Isaba, speaking of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, says that she was born five years before the Call and was about five years older than Aisha. This shows that Aisha must have been about ten years at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet, and not six years as she is generally supposed to be. This is further borne out by the fact that Aisha herself is reported to have stated that when the chapter [of the Holy Quran] entitled The Moon, the fifty-fourth chapter, was revealed, she was a girl playing about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call. All these considerations point to but one conclusion, viz., that Aisha could not have been less than ten years of age at the time of her nikah, which was virtually only a betrothal. And there is one report in the Tabaqat that Aisha was nine years of age at the time of nikah. Again it is a fact admitted on all hands that the nikah of Aisha took place in the tenth year of the Call in the month of Shawwal, while there is also preponderance of evidence as to the consummation of her marriage taking place in the second year of Hijra in the same month, which shows that full five years had elapsed between the nikah and the consummation. Hence there is not the least doubt that Aisha was at least nine or ten years of age at the time of betrothal, and fourteen or fifteen years at the time of marriage.”

[duraaraa 203]

More like 14 or 15:

A great misconception prevails as to the age at which Aisha was taken in marriage by the Prophet. Ibn Sa‘d has stated in the Tabaqat that when Abu Bakr [father of Aisha] was approached on behalf of the Holy Prophet, he replied that the girl had already been betrothed to Jubair, and that he would have to settle the matter first with him. This shows that Aisha must have been approaching majority at the time. Again, the Isaba, speaking of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, says that she was born five years before the Call and was about five years older than Aisha. This shows that Aisha must have been about ten years at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet, and not six years as she is generally supposed to be. This is further borne out by the fact that Aisha herself is reported to have stated that when the chapter [of the Holy Quran] entitled The Moon, the fifty-fourth chapter, was revealed, she was a girl playing about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call. All these considerations point to but one conclusion, viz., that Aisha could not have been less than ten years of age at the time of her nikah, which was virtually only a betrothal. And there is one report in the Tabaqat that Aisha was nine years of age at the time of nikah. Again it is a fact admitted on all hands that the nikah of Aisha took place in the tenth year of the Call in the month of Shawwal, while there is also preponderance of evidence as to the consummation of her marriage taking place in the second year of Hijra in the same month, which shows that full five years had elapsed between the nikah and the consummation. Hence there is not the least doubt that Aisha was at least nine or ten years of age at the time of betrothal, and fourteen or fifteen years at the time of marriage.”

I really don't know enough to say anything authoritatively, but apparently the presumed age of Aisha depends on the denomination of Islam.

[decocker 7,198]

this is why i have no religion - makes no sense to me. debating if a girl was married at 8 or 15 - what does it matter? she was betrothed. she was property. what revelance should any of this have in our lives, today, why does anyone need to know this #######? girls were owned back in the day, they were property. can we move on now?

[duraaraa 203]

this is why i have no religion - makes no sense to me. debating if a girl was married at 8 or 15 - what does it matter? she was betrothed. she was property. what revelance should any of this have in our lives, today, why does anyone need to know this #######? girls were owned back in the day, they were property. can we move on now?

I also don't think it makes sense if you apply it to the past, but let's apply it to today, and you see where there's an issue.

If someone's hero is Muhammad and he wants to be just like him (and he is of the Islamic sect that believes she was 8 or 9 or whatever), perhaps he would take a very, very young girl, and marry her. Perhaps said girl would die of internal bleeding.

Edited September 11, 2013 by duraaraa

[decocker 7,198]

I also don't think it makes sense if you apply it to the past, but let's apply it to today, and you see where there's an issue.

If someone's hero is Muhammad and he wants to be just like him (and he is of the Islamic sect that believes she was 8 or 9 or whatever), perhaps he would take a very, very young girl, and marry her. Perhaps said girl would die of internal bleeding.

it's not exclusive to muhammad. in the bible, girls are property as well. it was how things were done way back when. i don't understand why so many refuse to do away with irrelevant religious texts. ask god or allah to ghost write something current. something that doesn't propogate human suffering.