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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Nine-year-old girl marries in Niger |
| 2002-12-31 |
| The marriage of a 50-year-old man to a nine-year-old girl in Niger has caused widespread shock. But she's got the body of a 12-year-old... Residents, human rights activists and imams in Niamey, the capital of Niger, have all expressed their anger. "Cheeze! I was gonna grab her for myself when she was ten! Why'd I wait so long?" Early marriage is forbidden under criminal law so when neighbours of the young girl alerted the authorities to her marriage, the Minister of Social Development called for arrests. Bridegroom Moustapha Hima and the father-in-law were then questioned at police headquarters in Niamey. In response to the police's questions about the motivations for such a marriage, the bridegroom said only that it had been God's order. "Hello, Mahmoud?... Hey, this is God. Look, I want you to marry that 9-year-old down the street... Yeah. The one with the precocious titties... 'Why?' Don't even ask... Look, I'm ordering you to marry her. You know what happens to people who don't obey God's orders, don't you?" However, the President of Niger's Islamic Organisation, Elhaj Ismael Ibrahim, has called on the population of the country, 98% of whom are Muslims, to shun early marriages. "At least wait 'til they're weaned, dammit!" Another minister has promised to sanction the two men involved in this case in order to deter others from committing in future what she termed a lewd act. Hmmm... Yasss... Y'might call doinking a 9-year-old a lewd act. Unless you're really devout, of course: "Hey! The Prophet did it, why can't I?" |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 But he didn't consumate the relationship until she was 9 years old, didn't he? At least he showed more restraint that others with that kind of predilictions. |
| Posted by: Paul 2002-12-31 20:59:27 |
| #3 Mohammed seized Aisha from his sahaba, Abu Bakr, when she was "6 years old." The founder of Islam was 55 at the time. The story wouldn't make a good movie. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-31 20:17:30 |
| #2 The BBC, useful idiots as usual, failed to discern if the girl came with a dowry or not. Arranged marriages like this one usually have something other than sex as a motive, but in their dive for the tabloids' market, the BBC touts the girl's sexual immaturity in the story line. |
| Posted by: Tom Roberts 2002-12-31 16:23:51 |
| #1 I've got odds that Roman Polanski will be filming this story |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-12-31 11:42:32 |