SABYA/MAKKAH: Authorities in the Jizan town of Al-Kadami have halted the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to a man of over 70 years of age. Town head Faisal Bin Labda told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that a complaint had been received from the grandparents of Noura saying she was being married off against her will. “We called Noura's father in order to look into the facts of the case, and he confirmed the union but said that it was with the blessing of his daughter,” Bin Labda said. After “confirming the truth of the complaint”, Bin Labda said that Noura was placed in the care of her grandfather, while her father was required to sign a pledge that she would remain there and that he would “refrain from any form of violence or force to make her go to her husband until official authorities in the town had ruled on the issue”. Bin Labda added that the regional governor of Sabya had been informed. Noura told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that her father had not informed her of the marriage but instead had “tricked her into going with him to a school for the eradication of illiteracy to receive her stipend for attendance, and there the marriage contract was carried out against her will. She said she did not wish to get married, “particularly to a man as old as my grandfather”. “I wasn't at the contract ceremonies, and I didn't get the dowry of 17,000 riyals,” she said. Noura's grandfather, Muhammad Atain, expressed his outright objection to the marriage. “She is still young, a minor, and doesn't understand things like marriage,” he said. “I've brought her up since her birth and her mother's divorce, and have provided for her since her father abandoned her, and now he wants to marry her off by force to an old man who has no job or income except social security.” Noura's father, meanwhile, denies he forced his daughter, saying she agreed to the marriage in the presence of witnesses to the contract and the “ma'dhoun” – an official licensed to certify marriage contracts. “The dowry was 17,000 riyals and 100 heads of sheep, and I bought a car,” he said, while denying accusations from Noura's grandfather that he was motivated to marry off his daughter by monetary considerations. The National Society for Hunan Rights (NSHR) in Makkah, meanwhile, has said that there is “considerable movement in the NSHR, the Shoura Council, and the Human Rights Commission for bringing in laws on the marriage of minors. “We need to outlaw it and introduce penalties for ma'dhouns and parents who permit it,” said NSHR supervisor in Makkah, Hussein Al-Sharif. “The authorities can put a stop to it through regulatory measures preventing the ma'dhoun from approving the contract and obliging them to obtain the agreement of the girl. “Setting a legal age for marriage needs to be seriously looked at. Society desperately needs to be made aware of the issue, especially in areas where these sorts of marriage proliferate. Parents and girls need to be made aware of the issues involved.” Al-Sahrif said the media and the Ministry of Education had important roles in raising awareness of the age groups that are vulnerable. “Mosque preachers can play an important part in promoting awareness,” he said, adding that young girls are “not aware of their legal rights, and do not know that they can take their guardians to court”. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Babatain, the director general of the Ma'dhouns Administration, said that ma'dhouns are required to obtain the girl's permission for the marriage to go ahead and that she is entitled to take receipt of the dowry. “The ministry has obliged all ma'dhouns to confirm the acceptance of the girl by calling her and asking her directly, and check that she has the dowry, as well as establish the sound health of her guardians,” Al-Babatain said.
