CHILD BRIDE: Saudi teen hides on wedding night to avoid ‘hubby’, 90

IANS

A 90-year-old Saudi Arabian is suing his 15-year-old child-bride’s family because she hid herself in the bedroom on their wedding night.

The terrified teen locked the door from the inside so that her new husband could not enter on their first night as a married couple. Two days later she fled back to her parents’ home, Daily Mail reported.

The elderly man now wants his money back as he claims he paid the parents about $17,500 for the teenager for the marriage.

According to Al Arabiya TV channel, the man said he paid the dowry to the young girl’s Saudi mother and Yemeni father, making the marriage “legal and correct”.

The 15-year-old’s arranged marriage sparked outrage and widespread condemnation in Saudi Arabia where activists took to Twitter calling it child trafficking and prostitution.

A member of the Saudi National Association for Human Rights (NSHR), Suhaila Zein el-Abedin urged authorities to “save this child from tragedy”, adding that marriage in Islam must be based on mutual consent.

She also blamed the girls parents for accepting the dowry and marrying off their daughter to such an old man, underlining the importance of establishing a minimum age of 18 for marriage in Saudi Arabia.

Tags: Arranged Marriage, child bride, Saudi Arabia, wedding