|
Yemen Investigating Death of 8-Year-Old Child Bride
[An Nahar] Yemen is investigating the reported death of an 8-year-old girl from injuries suffered on the first night of her marriage to a man in his 40s, the government said Friday.The government has formed a committee "to verify the reports about the death of the girl, named Rawan, after being married to an older man," front man Rajeh Badi told Agence La Belle France Presse. "The crime is not confirmed yet. The team's job is to verify whether this crime took place or not," he said, adding that police had not reported such an incident. He said that the commission should complete its investigation by Saturday. But rights activist Ahmed al-Quraishi, chairman of child rights' organization Siyaj, said activists who went to the northwestern Hajjah province had collected information that practically confirms the case. "We in Siyaj are nearly sure of the girl's death, and that authorities are trying to cover up the issue," he told AFP. He said locals in the town of Meedi told activists that they saw the girl some three weeks ago carrying a mobile phone, and saying that she was to wed to a man in his 40s. Residents also said that she disappeared shortly afterwards, as did her family, according to Quraishi. Some locals said the girl was married to the man who took her to a hotel, and that she died on the very first night from bleeding caused by sexual intercourse. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... a security official in the area told activists investigating the case that the girl and her father were being held by police, without giving any details, Quraishi said. Activists also discovered that Rawan's father had another daughter aged 10, who is also married. On Friday, European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the reported death was appalling, and urged Yemen to ban child marriage. She called on Sanaa to "abide by its obligations" under U.N. conventions protecting the rights of the child. Posted by: Fred 2013-09-14 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=375820 |