For the first time in Yemen 8-year-old girl asks for divorce in court SANA’A, April 9 - An eight-year-old girl decided last week to go the Sana’a West Court to prosecute her father, who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man. Nojoud Muhammed Nasser arrived at court by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse. According to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband. “My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage,” Nojoud Nasser told the Yemen Times. “I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done,” she said. Nasser said that she was exposed to sexual abuse and domestic violence by her husband. “He used to do bad things to me, and I had no idea as to what a marriage is. I would run from one room to another in order to escape, but in the end he would catch me and beat me and then continued to do what he wanted. I cried so much but no one listened to me. One day I ran away from him and came to the court and talked to them.” “Whenever I wanted to play in the yard he beat me and asked me to go to the bedroom with him. This lasted for two months," added Nasser. "He was too tough with me, and whenever I asked him for mercy, he beat me and slapped me and then used me. I just want to have a respectful life and divorce him.” Nasser’s uncle, who does not want to reveal his name, is following the case now as her guardian. According to her uncle, after Muhammed Nasser, the girl's father, lost his job as a garbage truck driver in Hajjah, he became a beggar, and soon after suffered from mental problems. Thamer is in jail now. “Yes I was intimate with her, but I have done nothing wrong, as she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me," he said. "But if the judge or other people insist that I divorce her, I will do it, it’s ok.” So far, no accusations have been made against her father, who was later released due to health problems, or Nasser's husband, who will remain in jail for further investigation. “So far there is no case and no charges, as Nojoud arrived by herself to court asking just for a divorce,“ said Shatha Ali Nasser, a lawyer in the Supreme Court who is following Nojoud Nasser’s story. Shatha Ali Nasser confirmed that item number 15 in Yemeni civil law reads that “no girl or boy can get married before the age of 15." However, this item was amended in 1998 so parents could make a contract of marriage between their children even if they are under the age of 15. But the husband cannot be intimate with her until she is ready or mature,” said Nasser.“This law is highly dangerous because it brings an end to a young girl’s happiness and future fruitful life. Nojoud did not get married, but she was raped by a 30-year old man.” Nasser confirmed that Nojoud Nasser’s case is not the first of its kind in Yemen, but it is the first time that a girl went to court by herself to ask for a divorce. “We are not planning to return Nojoud to her family. Who knows? Maybe after a few years the same thing will happen to her again," said Shatha Ali Nasser. "We are planning to put her in Dar Al-Rahama [an non-governmental organization that works with children], where she can have a better life and education. We do not want her family to pay her expenses, as they are poor.” http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1145&p=front&a=2 ------------ Sickening. More discussion here: http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/020644.php#comments Apparently there are more cases like this of underage girls who are forced to marry, which seem to normally not be prosecuted under their religious/legal system.
Seriously, what kind of law puts in such generalities like "until she is ready or mature". The husband can then say "she was ready" in his eyes. The guy should have his head chopped off...or at least lose his hands. But, I guess they will leave chopping off hands to those who steal. This guy stole something more precious than any material possession. He's a monster.
Didn't Texas just raid a compound where young girls, against their will, were being married to and impregnated by men twice their age? Before we bash a whole religion and culture thousands of miles away, lets clean up our own backyard and not paint with a broad brush.
Oh please. Let me know when the isolated incident you mention in Texas becomes either: a) a common occurence or b) legal under the law Until then, your argument is just pandering to knee-jerk political correctness. As if this polygamist sect incident somehow means I cannot judge ass-backwards arab bull**** for what it is... sheesh. Both groups (the men, anyhow) are wastes of humanity - and geographical proximity has got nothing to do with it.
Let me get this straight, the FLDS is isolated and doesn't represent white people, Christianity, or the United States, but this jack*** represents Arabs, Islam, and Yemen? Yep, you're right the Middle East is a pedophile's heaven. They're all screwing 8 year olds legally over there.
From what I have read and watched on television, these polygamous sects are way more common than you think. The reason you don't hear a lot about them is because they are very isolated. I'm not talking about the incidents being isolated but the people who practice this have isolated themselves from the rest of society.
I don't think that's fair. Their law states that no one under 15 should be married. So it was against the law. And you look at that family, how poor it was and the father mentally ill. I think it's awful but to judge a billion people on it isn't fair.
No. I'm just pointing out..no matter how common it is, it's illegal and carries with it huge punishments. That's very different from a country where a man can give consent for his 8 year old to be married to a 30 year old. Very, very different.
It's not against the law for a father to consent otherwise...to consent to an 8 year old being married. And then allows broad discretion to allow a 30 year old man to do as he wishes with an 8 year old. Cultural relativism aside, that's disgusting. It's ok to be offended by that.
My reply was to the "common occurrence" statement really not to the legality of the issue hence the first sentence of my first post. I understand the differences in the legal regards of the whole issue but to blast an entire culture seems pretty absurd. I mean is the law in all Middle Eastern countries? Do all Arabs practice this? Was he just blasting the Yemen culture? Doesn't seem like it but I'll wait.
I don't know what he was blasting...but I certainly understand the knee-jerk sentiment. I think it's beyond disgusting...not merely that it happens but the law in that country literally facilitates it. I'm sure that makes me culturally insensitive, but I'm more concerned with that child than other's opinions of me, so I'll risk it.
o rly?? “no girl or boy can get married before the age of 15." However, this item was amended in 1998 so parents could make a contract of marriage between their children even if they are under the age of 15. But the husband cannot be intimate with her until she is ready or mature,” said Nasser.“This law is highly dangerous because it brings an end to a young girl’s happiness and future fruitful life. Nojoud did not get married, but she was raped by a 30-year old man.”
All right - I should have known the "lets not generalize" police would jump on me for that. I was referring to the ass-backwards culture (any culture) that would promote, subscribe, legalize, or in any other way favor forced marriages, statutory rape, routine abuse, and various other inhumane, uncivilized, and barbarous ideologies. I thought my post regarding geographic neutrality made that perfectly clear. And yes, lil pun, I know that utah is rife with polygamists. So many that they literally cannot enforce the ban (as far as I have heard/read). Does this make my statement more palatable?
