Saudi girl, 12, married off to 80-year-old man

[Al-khiyal]

«فتاة بريدة» تصرخ للملأ: «أنقذوني..لا أريده»!

فصول مثيرة وأحداث جديدة خرجت على السطح لتكشف للقارئ الكثير من الغموض حول "طفلة بريدة" البالغة من العمر 12 عاماً؛ والتي زوجها والدها برجل ثمانيني.

وفي هذا التحقيق نستكمل القضية مع جميع الأطراف (الزوج، ووالد الطفلة، ومأذون الأنكحة، والوكيل الشرعي عن الأم، الطفلة)، وذلك بعد أن التقينا سابقاً مع والدة الطفلة وتحدثت في حوار مطول عن معاناتها وطفلتها من هذا الزواج غير المتكافئ عمرياً.

مأذون الأنكحة

في البداية تحدث مأذون الأنكحة، الذي نال نصيب الأسد من الانتقادات بتغاضيه عن عمر الفتاة وأنه كان سبباً رئيساً في إتمام الزواج، وقال: لا توجد تعليمات واضحة وصريحة تنص على عدم عقد نكاح أي فتاه دون سن الثامنة عشرة، مشيراً إلى أنه استدعى الفتاة أمامه، وسألها عن رأيها الشرعي في الزواج ومدى قبولها بالزوج، ووافقت برضاء تام منها؛ ووقعت على ذلك بالموافقة!.

وأضاف: لم أشترط على الزوج أن يتم الدخول بعد عام كامل، لعدم امتلاكي الصلاحيات، موضحاً أن والدها لم يشترط ضمن شروط العقد هذه المدة.

وأشار إلى ان والدها يوم إبرام عقد النكاح في 19/9/1430ه ذكر أن عمر الطفلة ثلاثة عشر عاماً وشهور؛ واكتفيت بحديث أبيها، وأن البينة تأخذ من جميع الأطراف، مؤكداً على أنه لم يأخذ "ريالاً واحداً" مقابل عقد النكاح، وأنه"محتسب الأجر من الله سبحانه".

وعن مدى إحساسه بتأنيب الضمير عندما اكتشف الفارق الشاسع بين العروسين، قال إنه لا ينظر بذلك مطلقاً طالما أن الزوجة موافقة، مضيفاً أن عقد النكاح تم تصديقه في محكمة المذنب.

والد الطفلة

وتتواصل الغرابة وارتفاع سخونة الحوار مع والد الطفلة الذي أدخل طفلته القفص الذهبي مقابل مهر قدره(85) ألف ريال، وقال: لقد زوجت ابنتي بناءً على بنيتها الجسدية لا على عمرها، ولايهمني رأي والدتها.

وعند سؤاله عن دافعه لتزويج طفلته أجاب:ابنتي بالغة من سن الحادية عشرة، وزواج الصغيرة ليس جديداً في مجتمعنا، فهو موجود من قديم الزمان ولا أرى حرجاً فيه لا شرعاً ولا عرفاً، مؤكداً على أن العمر ليس مقياساً على الزواج.

وأكد الأب أنه لم يأخذ رأي طليقته، حيث قال:ولماذا آخذ برأيها؟، "هي امرأة فاشلة ولا يوجد داع للأخذ برأيها" -على حد تعبيره-، موضحاً أنه لم يمانع من زيارة الطفلة لأمها، وقال: ذلك ليس من طباعي، بل على العكس؛ سبع سنوات وهي تزور والدتها باستمرار، لكن الظروف تحكمني، فانا لا أكون متفرغاً دائما وتعلم عن مشاغل الدنيا الكثيرة.

وعن ما قيل إنه ورد عنه لأبنائه وتبليغهم أن والدتهم تارة متوفاة وتارة تم طردها خارج المملكة رد قائلاً: الكلام هذا افتراء وكذب، وجميعنا مسلمون لا نحب الظلم ولا يعقل إطلاقاً أن يصدر مني هذا الكلام، متجنباً انكار ما نسب إليه كليا، وقال: بعض ما ذكر صحيح، والبعض الآخر كذب وافتراء، مشيراً إلى أن مهر الطفلة كان قدره خمسة وثمانين ألف ريال، موضحاً أنه بنى منه منزلاً للطفله وأعطى ما تبقى منه لها.

وعند سؤاله عن استدعاء إمارة القصيم له وهل منعوه من إتمام الزواج اكتفى بالقول: أبداً لم يمنعوني إطلاقا، فقط سألوني بعض الأسئلة البسيطة وبعدها انصرفت، مؤكداً أنه لم يتم إيقاف الزواج إطلاقاً.

الزوج الثمانيني

من ناحيته أكد الزوج البالغ من العمر أكثر من 80 سنة، أن والد الطفلة هو من خطبه لابنته، وأنه تعرض لهجوم من قبل والدة الطفلة عند تقديمه دعوة خاصة لها، موضحاً أنه لديه ثلاث نساء على ذمته، وهذه الفتاة هي الرابعة، وجميعهن صغار في السن أسوة بها ومعهن أطفال، مشيراً إلى أن عمره 65 عاماً وليس 80 عاماً كما ذكر. وحينما طلبنا منه بطاقة الأحوال اتضح بان عمره أكبر من 65 عاماً بكثير، واستدرك قائلاً:" أهلنا أول يكبرون أعمارنا"!.

وعن كيفية خطبته من الفتاة، قال:ابن عمي هو والد الطفلة، وهو من خطبني لابنته وقال لي ( أنا عندي ابنه لن أزوجها إلا لك أنت)، وجئت بالشهود وكتبنا العقد، ووافقت البنت، وسلمنا المهر، وتم تحديد مكان الزواج في محافظة الغاط،لأني أسكن في منطقة برية قريبة من الغاط، وتمت مراسم الزواج بتاريخ 22-10-1430ه، وهذا هو الموضوع باختصار شديد، ولم يكن يخطر في بالي أن الموضوع سوف يصعد إعلامياً وحتى رسمياً، وأن هناك انتقادات ستأتي علي أو على أسرتي من هذا الزواج، مؤكداً على أن الزواج من الفتاة البالغة بغض النظر عن عمرها جائز شرعاً، ونحن لم نعمل ما يغضب الله، بل هو زواج اكتملت أركانه وشروطه وتمت المصادقة عليه ووقع، فلماذا كل هذا الانتقاد!.

وفي سؤال عن علمه أن الطفلة كانت مجبرة على الموافقة بالزواج منه، قال: هذا الكلام غير صحيح أبداً، وأنا سألتها قبل الخطبة وأبدت موافقتها برضاها!، مشيراً إلى أنه اتصل هاتفياً بوالدة الطفلة وأخبرها عن زواجه بابنتها وقدم لها دعوة الزواج. وأضاف أن مشاعر الأم كانت صعبة، وشعرت بالصدمة رغم أن "الزواج حلال"، وتكلمت علي بكلام غير لائق -أترفع عن ذكره- ولكن المهم أنها قالت كيف ترضى أن تتزوج على الصغيرات؟، ولماذا فعلت ذلك مع ابنتي؟، حرام عليك... !. وبين الزوج أنه قضى ليلة الزواج في منزل والدها بحي الشقة في مدينة بريدة، ولا تزال تسكن حالياً مع والدها، وأخذها نهاية الأسبوع إلى الصحراء بحكم إقامتي هناك؛ وأعود بها إلى منزل والدها لتكمل دراستها الابتدائية..

وفي سؤال عن ما تردد أنك قمت بضربها في الليلة الأولى، فأجاب هذا

كذب والله لم أقم بضربها بتاتاً.

الوكيل الشرعي

واكد الوكيل الشرعي لوالدة الطفلة أن ولاة الأمر ورئيس محاكم القصيم وعدوا بإنصافنا، مقدماً شكره وتقديره لصاحب السمو الملكي الأمير فيصل بن بندر بن عبدالعزيز أمير منطقة القصيم على حرصه ومتابعته المستمرة لقضية الطفلة، مشيراً إلى انه تم استدعاءه من رئيس محاكم منطقة القصيم الشيخ منصور بن مسفر الجوفان والذي أكد بأن هذا الزواج يعد جريمة لا يرضاها عاقل وسيتم إنصافهم بمشيئة الله.

وأضاف لقد تفاعلت هيئة حقوق الإنسان مع قضية الطفلة ووجه معالي رئيس الهيئة الدكتور بندر العيبان بتشكيل لجنة عاجلة من أعضاء مجلس الهيئة ذوي التخصصات الشرعية لمتابعة هذه القضية، وستبدأ اللجنة أعمالها صباح اليوم السبت بمنطقة القصيم للوقوف على كافة الظروف والملابسات المرتبطة بالقضية، إضافة إلى الالتقاء بمأذون الأنكحة الذي أبرم عقد زواج الطفلة بالرجل الثمانيني والاجتماع بالأطراف ذات العلاقة.

الطفلة تبكي

من جانبها تحدثت الطفلة باكية في حوار سريع مع "الرياض" وهي تناشد المسؤولين، قائلة: "أنقذوني لا أريده"!، وسألناها بداية:

*هل مورست عليك بعض الضغوط للموافقة على الزواج؟

- ترددت في الإجابة لتتمتم قائلة: (مدري)!.

*بعد أن ارتبطت كلياً بزوج..هل أنت مقتنعة الآن بكونه زوجاً لك؟

- ترددت قبل الإجابة؛ والبكاء والخوف يتملكها لتصرخ بجراءة قائلة: لا.. لا أريده زوجاً انقذوني!.

* لماذا؟

- لا أعلم...لا أعلم..لا أعلم!.

* لماذا وافقت على عقد القران؟

- لا اعلم (مدري) .. اخذ جانب الارتباك والخوف يتملك الطفلة أثناء حديثنا معها ..وعلى اعتبار أن الموقف لايحتمل فضلنا عدم الضغط عليها واكتفينا بصرخة الحزن ودموع الخوف..

[Al-khiyal]

Saudi girl, 12, married off to 80-year-old man

Buraidah, Saudi Arabia , January 21, 2010 (TML) -- Saudi women’s rights advocates are outraged after a 12-year-old girl was sold by her father into marriage with an 80-year-old man. A Saudi father, whose name has not been released, sold his 12-year-old daughter to his 80-year old cousin for the equivalent of $22,600. The elderly man, who lives in the city of Buraidah, stands accused of raping the girl after the wedding. He has previously married three other young girls. “She was raped and they took her to the hospital after the wedding night,” Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi journalist who has been banned from reporting by the government told The Media Line. “Usually when the girl is very young, the authorities tell the husband not to touch her until after puberty. When he was interviewed, the guy just said she was old enough and he didn’t know she would get hurt.”

The girl, already in the custody of the elderly man, was reported to have shouted “I don’t want him, save me!” when contacted by phone by a journalist from the Al Riyadh, a local newspaper in the Saudi capital. The girl’s mother, who had objected strongly to the marriage, took the case to local media after her lawyer’s efforts to get it legally annulled failed. After the case was publicized, the public prosecutor of Al-Qassim Province is said to have set up a special committee to look into the case. “They say they’re going to look into it but nothing will really happen,” Eman Al Nafjan, a Saudi blogger and women’s rights advocate told The Media Line. “Even if they solve this case, they are not going to recommend a new law to the king. We should set a legal minimum age at which girls can be married.” “Without a law we get people like this 80 year old guy who takes advantage of the system to fulfill his sick obsession with little girls,” she wrote on her blog. “Where else in the world can a man openly say that he is in a polygamous marriage with four underage girls and not get arrested? At this rate we might as well start a tourism industry to attract rich Muslim pedophiles.”

The girl’s parents are divorced and the marriage is understood to have been arranged on the initiative of the father, who told the local newspaper that he did so on the basis of the girl’s physical development, not her age. “This is not at all unique,” said Al Nafjan, who has written extensively about similar cases. “In all the cases that have gotten the attention of local newspapers it was because either the mother or an aunt made an issue of it.” “Girls are seen as very risky in Saudi Arabia because they can later shame the family name by sleeping with someone,” she explained. “So families often marry off their girls at a young age so they can’t shame the family.” “It’s particularly common in cases when you have people from the lower economic status who get divorced,” Al Nafjan said. “The father usually wants to keep the boys, because culturally they are not seen as risky, and doesn’t want to give the daughters to the mother out of spite, so he just marries them off to the first person who’ll pay.”

The girl currently attends school during the week, when she lives with her father, and spends weekends with her elderly husband at his home out in the desert outside the city. The 80-year-old husband told local journalists that he had tried to do the right thing by inviting his new mother-in-law (the girl’s mother) to the wedding but she cursed at him in response. When asked by the mother’s lawyer and the Al Riyadh newspaper why he had agreed to the marriage, the officiator stated that he was under the impression that the bride was 13 and a half years old.

Child marriages in Saudi Arabia have made international news a number of times over the past year. In April there was international outcry when a Saudi judge refused to grant a divorce to an eight-year-old girl who had been married off by her father to a 47-year-old man as part of a loan repayment agreement, and in August a 10-year-old bride ran away from her 80-year-old husband and sought refuge at her aunt’s house. After ten days in hiding, the girl was returned to her husband by her father.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Saudi Arabia has signed and ratified, defines a child as any person under the age of 18 and Article 16.2 of The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, states that “The marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.” Saudi Arabia, which ratified the convention in September 2000, did so with the stated reservation that “In case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic law, the Kingdom is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention.”

Nadya Khalife, Women’s Rights researcher for Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, said Saudi Arabia should set a legal age for marriage. “We call on all governments to ensure that they have a legal age of marriage,” she told The Media Line. “Working from a human rights framework, we believe that early marriage has negative consequences on children, especially girls because it effects their health, education, literacy and economic empowerment skills. The reason we focus on girls is because it is principally girls who are married off at a young age.”

Saudi Arabia’s religious leadership defends child marriages, often citing the marriage by Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah, the founder of Islam, to Aisha bint Abu Bakr, when according to traditional Islamic texts she was six or seven years old. Aisha stayed with her parents for a few years after the marriage, according to most sources, moving in with Muhammad and consummating the marriage when she was nine. Aisha was Muhammad’s third of 13 wives or concubines. Al Nafjan rejects using Aisha as a basis for justifying child marriages. “It’s not allowed in Islam to marry off children,” she said. “There is nothing in the Qur'an that states that children should be married off.” Al-Huwaidar agreed. “Whatever their religious justification, this is just a way of legally justifying the rape of little girls,” she said. “Modern Muslim scholars dispute Aisha’s age at the time of marriage, but even if Muhammad got married to Aisha when she was nine, that does not justify applying the same standards to today.”

[Al-khiyal]

Official in child bride case faces suspension

RIYADH, January 24, 2010 -- A source at the governmental Human Rights Commission informed Arab News on Saturday that the marriage official who authorized the marriage of a 12-year-old girl and an 80-year-old man will be suspended. The HRC said the man officiated the marriage in Buraidah without the girl’s consent or even checking her age. The official denied in a local newspaper that he violated any regulations and that he has not been provided any instructions on marrying girls of her age. The case had stirred many concerns in the Saudi society, as the father of the 12-year-old girl married her off to his 80-year-old cousin in exchange for an SR85,000 dowry. According to Al-Riyadh newspaper, the father claims he based his judgment on the child’s physical development and not her age. The girl’s mother was against the marriage, but had no say in the matter, according to the report. Meanwhile, a court in Buraidah is looking into the annulment of the marriage. An announcement is reportedly to be made on Monday.

[Al-khiyal]

12-year-old bride to testify, court delays verdict

BURAIDA, January 26, 2010 – A court here has delayed its verdict into the marriage of an 80-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl until next Monday, so that it can first hear testimony from the bride. Judge Ibrahim Al-Omar had earlier listened to the arguments of the child’s lawyer Saleh Al-Dabibi, who was hired by the Muwada Charity Organization headed by Princess Sara Bint Musa’ed Bin Abdul Aziz. Al-Dabibi called for an immediate divorce between the two and for punishment to be meted out to the child’s father and the 80-year-old husband. “This marriage does not meet the conditions of legal consent of the bride,” he said. He called for the courts to remove the father as the legal guardian of the daughter as per Islamic rulings in these types of cases. Al-Dabibi argued that the mother of the child should have full guardianship. The lawyer based his case, for the annulment of the marriage, on verses from the Qur’an, arguing for the fulfillment of Islamic legal conditions for the marriage, including a wise and more conscious guardian. The case has become of public interest, Al-Dabibi said.

During the hearing, the father said that he did not make use of his daughter’s SR85,000 dowry. “It has gone into a savings account for her,” he said. The marriage contract of the child was signed in Ramadan, last September, and the wedding ceremony was held a few weeks ago. The mother, who is separated from the father, said she was not consulted about the marriage. The father had simply reported the news to her after the marriage had taken place, she said. “I told him I would not accept it now because she was still too young, but he did not listen to me,” she said. The 80-year-old husband said that his child bride had agreed to the marriage and “wasn’t forced into it”. The man, who is a nomad, said that he invited the mother to attend the wedding, but she did not come. The man has married three times before.

Monday’s hearing was attended by the Human Rights Commission’s head Bandar Al-Aiban. “The mother of the Buraidah girl asked for our help, to help her daughter get a divorce,” Al-Aiban said. “Child marriages are rare in the Qassim region,” a court official said, refusing to label it as a common practice in the region. This is the only child marriage case being seen in Qassim’s courts, he said. The only legislative body responsible for enacting laws against child marriages in the Kingdom is the Council of Senior Ulema (Scholars), the official said. He expected new laws against this type of marriage to be announced soon. Al-Aiban had said in June that the government was working on new regulations to impose a minimum age for marrying that could range from 16 to 18 years. A senior scholar, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Manie, recently said that the Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to a nine-year-old girl some 14 centuries ago cannot be used to justify child marriages today. Al-Manie said that circumstances were different today from when Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) married young Aisha – may Allah be pleased with her. Lady Aisha’s marriage “cannot be equated with child marriages today because the conditions and circumstances are not the same,” Al-Manie said.

[Al-khiyal]

12-year-old bride drops petition for divorce

RIYADH, February 2, 2010 -- A 12-year-old girl who was married off to an 80-year-old man in Buraidah has dropped her request for a divorce just one day before a court hearing to annul the marriage. A source at the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said the girl, her mother and legal representative came to court and withdrew the request. The girl failed to appear in court on Monday when the hearing was originally supposed to be heard. Her legal representative did not provide a valid reason for her absence. The HRC, which had formed a committee to investigate the marriage, was stunned that the girl had dropped her request. “No one really knows the real reason behind the change of heart,” said the source, adding that although the HRC cannot interfere in people’s personal lives, it would continue lobbying for a minimum marriage age.

The case has attracted a lot of interest. The girl’s father married her off to his 80-year-old cousin in exchange of SR85,000 in dowry money. However, the girl’s mother, who is separated from her father, accused the man of raping her daughter. The girl had also told a local journalist over the phone that she “doesn’t want him, save me.” When the mother’s lawyer failed to get the marriage annulled, she brought the case to the attention of the Kingdom’s media.

Saudi Arabia has signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a child as any person under the age of 18. Article 16.2 of The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Saudi Arabia is a signatory of, states that “the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.” The Kingdom, which ratified the convention in September 2000, did so with the stated reservation that “in case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic law, the Kingdom is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention.”

The girl’s father and the registrar who conducted the marriage said they went ahead with the marriage, as there is no law prohibiting it. The father also claimed he based his judgment on the child’s physical development and not her age. On his part, the groom said he had not done anything wrong and that “the contract is valid and meets all marriage conditions.”

[Al-khiyal]

Shock as girl, 12, accepts aged husband

BURAIDAH, February 2, 2010 – A Buraidah girl, 12, sent shockwaves through the courthouse here when she said that she accepted her marriage to an 80-year-old man because she wanted to obey the wishes of her father. The marriage has caused a great deal of controversy in the Kingdom and resulted in widespread condemnation from local and international human rights activists. The elderly man paid SR85,000 dowry which the father claims he is holding for his daughter. The decision surprised Ibrahim Al-Amr, the judge of the General Court in Buraidah on Monday. Al-Amr was expected to issue a verdict in the matter when the girl made the announcement. During the court session, she said: “The marriage took place with my consent and I accept him as my husband in obedience to my father.” The child’s statement was not the only surprise of the day. The girl’s divorced mother also dropped a bombshell by withdrawing the lawsuit she had filed to annul her daughter’s marriage to the 80-year-old man. The girl’s mother has now added a condition to the marriage, that her daughter must be allowed to complete her education and that her former husband should drop previous cases he had filed against her. Also, she stipulated that she be given custody over her son. Sources said mediation is taking place between representatives of the girl’s father and mother to settle the case amicably. Judicial sources have confirmed that the girl’s father has asked the judge to withdraw her case. The mother would also withdraw the case she filed at the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) opposing the marriage, according to the sources.

Questions are now being asked about the dramatic change in the course of the matter. Saleh Al-Dubaibi, a lawyer who has been hired by the Mawaddah Charitable Society, said that the mother had not informed him personally that she had dropped her case. She had also not notified the NSHR either. “Mediation is going on now between the girl’s divorced father and mother aiming to contain the matter and prevent it from being given too much attention in the media, as it has become a public opinion case.” The lawyer said there should be laws preventing marriage of underage girls to old men because it is the children who become the victims. “There are people who are trying to exploit public opinion to achieve personal goals,” stressing that the case “necessitates enacting laws that curb marriage of underage girls.” He said the girl was still a child even though she appeared to be physically mature. As she was still a child, she could be influenced easily, he said. “She is the age of his great grandchildren,” he said. The marriage was solemnized in September 2009 and the wedding ceremony took place a few weeks ago. Saudi Arabia has no laws preventing underage marriages. Plans are under way to prevent this from happening with a law that will raise the age of marriage of girls to between 16 and 18 years.

[Al-khiyal]

À 12 ans, elle reste avec un octogénaire

Mardi 2 Février 2010 -- Une fillette saoudienne de 12 ans a renoncé, à la surprise générale, à demander le divorce à son mari octogénaire à laquelle elle a été mariée de force par son père, rapporte aujourd'hui la presse saoudienne. La fillette et sa mère ont retiré la demande de divorce auprès du tribunal de Bouraïda, au nord de Ryad, bien qu'elles aient reçu le soutien d'activistes et de défenseurs des droits des enfants. La fillette a assuré devant le tribunal que le mariage avait été conclu avec son consentement, indique le quotidien Okaz, tandis que le journal Al-Riyadh précise qu'elle a seulement exigé de continuer à aller à l'école. L'avocat de la fillette, Salah al-Dabibi, cité par Al-Riyadh, s'est dit "écoeuré" par ce retournement, et n'a pas exclu des pressions sur la mère et l'enfant. Une princesse qui dirige une association de défense des femmes divorcées, Sarra Bent Messaed Ben Abdel Aziz, a demandé au roi Abdallah d'intervenir pour interdire le mariage des enfants, selon le même quotidien. Le quotidien Al-Riyadh avait rapporté à la mi-janvier que la fillette avait été donnée en mariage à un adulte de 68 ans son aîné contre sa volonté et celle de sa mère, et que le mariage avait été consommé. Selon la presse, c'est le père qui est séparé de sa femme, qui a arrangé le mariage contre le versement d'une somme de 85.000 riyals (22.667 dollars).