Rawan, an 8-year-old child bride died of internal bleeding injuries on the night of an arranged marriage in the city of Hardh in Northwest Yemen after being given out in marriage to a man who is over 40!http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/bride-8-dies-of-injuries-on-wedding-night-in-yemen-1.1228706
She is believed to have suffered a tear to her Cores and severe bleeding.
Yemeni activists urged the local police to arrest the “beastly groom” and the girl’s family and transfer them to a court where justice would be served and the case would be used to help put an end to the practice of marrying very young girls in the impoverished country, the daily said.
In Kuwait, bloggers offered their prayers for the “bride”, but lashed out at the “groom”, saying that he was a beast who should be severely punished.
Angry Man, a blogger, posted that the man was “an animal who deserved to be punished severely for his crime.”
“All those who supported such a crime should also be punished,” he said.
Under the moniker “Sad”, another blogger said that everybody should have realized that Rawan was too young to get married.
“Her family and her groom could have waited for some time before having this marriage,” Sad said. “It was not fair at all and the marriage should not have happened even if some tribes believe that it is a good custom.”
Bu Omar said that he was disturbed by the death report.
“Rawan’s family members are not humans. They do not deserve to have children,” he said.
My Take
I get really upset when I hear stories of older men taking these children as brides. I mean, how low can you stoop? I cannot but think about the #ChildNotBride saga in Nigeria and how many young children have been given away under such circumstances and yet, we have some people in our society who are absolutely okay with such pediophilic practices?
Some might say 8 years is too young but 13 is okay. There are numerous stories of young girls (13 year-old included) that have suffered similar fate as Rawan. Unfortunately, for every story that is reported, there are several hundreds that are untold.
As a society we should frown against such practices and we should do all that we can to protect these young girls.
What's Your Take?
Let's hear your take on the story...Looking forward to it!