year-old girl's declaration that she “accepted” her marriage to an 80-year-old man who had paid her father a dowry of SR85,000 should convince all reasonable people of the urgency of enacting laws prohibiting the marriage of underage people in the Kingdom. First of all, it stretches credulity that any loving father would marry his 12-year-old child to an 80-year-old. The father claims that he is keeping the dowry for his daughter and given that sexual contact between the girl and her husband would only take place after she has transitioned physically to an adult woman raises the obvious question that she was married solely for the money with the idea that the elderly husband would die in the relatively near future. In addition to the simple fact of this cross-generational union – the groom has great-grandchildren the age of his bride – there are conflicts taking place behind the scenes between the young girl's divorced mother and father. The mother announced that she would withdraw her legal action against the marriage if the girl's father would drop legal cases against her, allow the girl to finish her education and drop opposition to her custody of their young son. In the midst of this, the little girl told the court: “The marriage took place with my consent and I accept him as my husband in obedience to my father.” In pointing out the injustice of this case it is difficult to know where the start. There is clearly a great deal of family turmoil forming a backdrop to the marriage. With legal cases between the mother and father already under way, it is difficult to believe that the girl's parents are genuinely interested foremost in their daughter's welfare. The money involved casts serious doubt on the father's motives while the guarantee of custody of her son casts doubt on the mother's true motives. Most indicative of the unfairness of the situation is the little girl's statement. A 12-year-old is in no position to be making decisions that will affect the rest of her life. That is why she has parents to stand up for her welfare. Clearly, not all parents are capable of doing so, which is why the law must be written to protect children from abuse. __
