Yemen: 'Only 10 years old' – Mother speaks of averted child marriage in RT exclusive

Nasrine, who reportedly prevented her 10-year-old daughter Mlak from being sold as a child bride, said she was the only one in the family who was against marrying the girl off to an elderly man, while speaking exclusively to RT in the city of Ibb on Sunday.

Mlak was already engaged to a “70 or 80-year-old man,” a deal which was apparently arranged by her father, when Nasrine managed to flee with the help of the Yemen Women’s Union.

“The rest of our family supported him and said that it corresponds to the Sharia [law] and the book of the Prophet,” Nasrine recalled, before adding that “her father knows what’s best for her, the sooner she marries, the better it will be for her. They were all against me.”

SOT, Nasrine (Arabic): “My daughter is only 10 years old and her father gave her to marry a man who is 70 or 80 years old, that is what happened in my family. Her father insisted on marrying her to this elderly man, so that’s why I took her and we ran away from home and hid here, at the representatives of the Islakh party’s place.”

SOT, Nasrine (Arabic): “I’m completely against the idea of marrying her at this age, regardless of whether this man or another. She is still a child and she must learn. She is in fourth grade now. She is only 10 years old and she will not survive through this marriage.”

SOT, Nasrine (Arabic): “The rest of our family supported him and said that it corresponds to the Sharia and the book of the Prophet. The prophet himself married Aisha when he was much older than she was. Moreover, her father knows what’s best for her, the sooner she marries, the better it will be for her. They were all against me.”

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