year-old girl has lodged a complaint with a Tabuk court against her father, whom she claims had married her off to a 60-year-old man without her consent. She alleged the witnesses who signed the marriage contract also did not get her consent. The girl, Noura, is now demanding her marriage be annulled to protect her from any harm. Noura said she refused her father's proposal to marry her to the old man but the former forged her signature on the contract. Two of her relatives were witnesses. The father also married off her two sisters, 12 and 14 years of age respectively, said the girl's uncle, according to a report in Al-Watan Arabic daily. Noura said members of her family had unsuccessfully appealed to the father to change his mind. “He did not care about the calls from my family not to marry me to a man who is 40 years older than me. He thinks he has the right to marry me and that no one can intervene. I turned to my uncle (father's brother) eventually,” said the girl. She said her uncle, with the help of her mother, took her to his house in Tabuk with the intention of obstructing the marriage. Her father was going to hold the wedding on Wednesday, as agreed with the groom. The uncle said the girl threatened to commit suicide if she had to marry the man. “As my brother had rejected all attempts to prevent the marriage I went to Alwajh Court to file a case, but the judge told me that I had to bring the girl as I did not have power of attorney. I went to Tabuk Court's president who received me and listened to me in the presence of the girl. He even called my brother and made sure of our case, and told him that the contract is considered revoked because the girl's consent was not given,” he said. The first hearing of the case has been scheduled in October. The uncle, who is taking care of his niece, has been receiving threats on his mobile from unknown numbers. A National Society for Human Rights source said any marriage without the consent of a girl is impermissible. The source called on the uncle to provide the society with the documents of the case. The court is the only body able to deal with the matter if reconciliation efforts fail, said the source. He said the society can cooperate with security bodies to summon the father and make him sign an undertaking not to approach his daughter until the case is completed.
