Saudi judge upholds man's marriage to 8-year-old

[Gawdzilla Sama]

By Mohammed Jamjoom

(CNN) -- A Saudi mother is expected to appeal a judge's ruling after he once again refused to let her 8-year-old daughter divorce a 47-year-old man, a relative said.

Sheikh Habib Al-Habib made the ruling Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza. Late last year, he rejected a petition to annul the marriage.

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. His dismissal of the mother's petition sparked outrage and made headlines around the world.

The judge said the mother, who is separated from the girl's father, was not the legal guardian and therefore could not represent her daughter, the mother's lawyer, Abdullah al-Jutaili, said at the time.

The girl's husband pledged not to consummate the marriage until the girl reaches puberty, according to al-Jutaili, who added that the girl's father arranged the marriage to settle his debts with the man, who is considered "a close friend."

In March, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib's verdict, and sent the case back to al-Habib for reconsideration.

Under the Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing.

The relative, who said the girl's mother will continue to pursue a divorce, told CNN the judge "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty."

The appeals court in Riyadh will take up the case again and a hearing is scheduled for next month, according to the relative.

Child marriages have made news in Saudi Arabia in the past year.

In a statement issued shortly after the original verdict, the Society of Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia said the judge's decision went against children's "basic rights."

Marrying children makes them "lose their sense of security and safety," the group said. "Also, it destroys their feeling of being loved and nurtured. It causes them a lifetime of psychological problems and severe depression."

Zuhair al-Harithi, a spokesman for the Saudi Human Rights Commission, a government-run group, told CNN that his organization was fighting child marriages.

"Child marriages violate international agreements that have been signed by Saudi Arabia and should not be allowed," al-Harithi said.

Child marriage is not unusual, said Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabian researcher for the international group Human Rights Watch, after the initial verdict.

"We've been hearing about these types of cases once every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express this kind of anger, especially so when girls are traded off to older men," Wilcke told CNN.

[Animavore]

What's good enough for the prophet....









I don't even get it. It's mental. I'm 30 and I can't even stand women in their late teens early twenties let alone an eight year old. What goes through these peoples heads? My niece is 8 for fuck sake. About to make her communion in 3 weeks. She's down stairs now playing with her little sisters. Only a monster could be with a girl that young. I'd reckon there were even men at the time of Muhammed who secretly thought what he was doing was depraved. No man in his right mind and with all his faculties working normal shouldn't even be interested in an eight year old.


EDIT: I meant shouldn't

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It's a matter of the cult of ownership of women they have over there.

1. Virginity is vital, you can't have "used goods".
2. To ensure virginity, you get 'em young and store them for future use.

It's machismo gone bizerk.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Additional info. CNN is saying the father arranged the marriage to settle some sort of debt with the groom. :pissed:

[Animavore]

Additional info. CNN is saying the father arranged the marriage to settle some sort of debt with the groom. :pissed:

It says that in the original post you made. Didn't you read it all? For shame.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Additional info. CNN is saying the father arranged the marriage to settle some sort of debt with the groom. :pissed:

It says that in the original post you made. Didn't you read it all? For shame.

Too pissed to focus when I started reading it.

[Twoflower]

Fucking hell. This is awful. She is 8 years old! And her dad basically selling her? I thought dads were suppose to protect their daughters from creeps like this.

[charlou]

Daughters are not "daddys' little princesses" in Saudi Arabia.

[Twoflower]

Daughters are not "daddys' little princesses" in Saudi Arabia.

Thats not right. All daughters should be "daddys little princesses." And all parents should want to protect their kids. I know that will never happen, but thats how it should be.

[charlou]

Yes, it should.

[Har]

It's not like he is going to have sex with her. And she can divorce him when she reaches puberty, before they ever have sex.

[Twoflower]

It's not like he is going to have sex with her. And she can divorce him when she reaches puberty, before they ever have sex.

No she can appeal to divorce him. That in no ways means that she will be able to.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

It's not like he is going to have sex with her. And she can divorce him when she reaches puberty, before they ever have sex.

No she can appeal to divorce him. That in no ways means that she will be able to.

And he'll be fucking the 12-year-old arse off of her while she's waiting for some mullah to decide if she can ditch him or not.

[Har]

It's not like he is going to have sex with her. And she can divorce him when she reaches puberty, before they ever have sex.

No she can appeal to divorce him. That in no ways means that she will be able to.

And he'll be fucking the 12-year-old arse off of her while she's waiting for some mullah to decide if she can ditch him or not.

Perhaps, perhaps not. That is assuming too much.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Worse things happen out there.