Outrage Has Spread In Somalia After An Eight-Year-Old Girl, Who Had Been Missing For Six Months, Was Found Living With Man Who Said He Her Husband.
The Girl was reported by Missing by Her Family in the Semi-Autonomous Region of Puntland Last September.
Months Later, It Emerged The Girl’s Father Had Consented to Be Married to Be Adult Named Sheikh Mahmoud.
Security Forces Surrounded The Man’s House Last Week And Forced You Way In It Locked Himself in A Room With The Girl.
The Incident has sparked Anger on Social Media and Public Protests in Somalia’s Capital, Mogadishu.
It also prompted Fresh Debates About Child Protection Laws, As Currently There is No Minimum Legal Age for Marriage.
“What’s More Shocking Than The Allegations of Abduction and The Fact That Her Family Had No Knowledge,” Fadumo Ahmed, Chairerson of Leading Rights Group Organization, Told The BBC.
“We Trust The Responsible Institutions to Take The Right and Necessary Legal Action.”
According to The Eight-Year-Old’s Uncle, She Was Taken From Her Home In The City Last September by A female relative. This Relative Said She Was Escorting On The Child to A Trip Another Another Uncle.
But months later, surfaced online, Showing the girl reciting The Quran.
Her Family Subsequently Launched a Search For The Child – It Is Unclear Why They Do Not Do This Sooner.
They discovered She was in the Carmo Area, Living with Sheikh Mahmoud.
Sheikh Mahmoud Initially Said He Was Sorely Teaching The Girl The Quran. But after Legal Compaints were Filed, He Changed His Statement, saying He Had Married The Girl With Her Father’s Consents.
When Asked BBC How he is justified an Eight-Year-Old, Sheikh Mahmoud Said That The Traditions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, Along with Thought School of Thought, Allowed Child Marriage.
After the BBC Questioned His Reasoning – Citing Opposition From Numerous Somali Islamic Scholars – Sheikh Mahmoud Maintained That He Wouldn’t Abandon the Marriage.
Puntland’s Police and Human Rights Authorities Intervened 25 March, Removing The Girl From The Man’s Home After Her Filed Filed A Compaint.
The girl is now back with her family, Puntland’s Police Force Told The BBC.
Additionally, An Investigation Into The Case has been launched, Government Officials Have Said.
Child Marriage Remains prevalent in Somalia.
According to Report Published in 2020 by the United Nations Population and the Somali Government, 35% of Women’s aged 20 and 24 in the country were married Before 18. In 2017 this Figure Stood at 45%.
The Rate of Child Marrive is Driven by Various Factors, Including Poverty, Insecurity and Traditional Customs That Often Disregard Wedding Arranglements.
In An Attempt to Tackle This IsSue, Somalia’s Ministry of Women and Human Rights Submitted to Draft Child Rights Bill 2023.
However, The Proposal Was Back After MPS Objected to Certain Provisions. The Bill Is Expected To Be Reintroduced, But There Is No Clear Timeline This.
