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Thirteen year old Elham Assi, child bride, was forced to have sex after being tied up by her husband, in a poverty stricken village in Shueba, Yemen. She later bled to death.
Nijma Ahem, 50, the young bride’s mother said her daughter had told her what had taken place before losing consciousness. Eham Assi had only been married for a few days to a 23 year-old man, Abed al-Hikmi. He was arrested by the police.
A quarter of all females marry in Yemen, before the age of 15, according to a 2009 report by the country’s Ministry of Social Affairs. Traditional families say they prefer young brides because they are seen as more obedient and are expected to have more children. They are also easier to keep away from temptation. Child brides can be valued at hundreds of dollars.
The legislation to ban child brides has been put on hold because of opposition from religious leaders. A February 2009 law laid down the minimum age for marriage at 17 years, but was rescinded and sent back to parliament's constitutional committee for reassessment, after some lawmakers called it un-Islamic. The government refuses to make any comment.
Assi , who is one of eight sibling, was forced into the marriage after an agreement had been reached between her brother and her husband to marry each other's sisters, enabling them to avoid paying expensive bride-prices. In Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, this is a common arrangement.
The groom felt under pressure to prove his manhood, as he had been refused consummation of the marriage, according to the police.
The groom took his young bride to a nearby medical clinic, demanding a doctor give her tranquilizers so she would not reject his advances. The clinic refused. He then bought performance enhancing pills, according to the police interrogation and that night consummated the marriage, in spite of his wife’s screams.
Because she was unable to walk he was forced to carry his bride to the clinic the following day. Dr. Fathiya Haidar said Assi's vaginal canal was badly torn. Al-Hikmi was told to stay clear of his bride for at least the next days.
A forensic report disclosed that Assi's injuries were much greater than the first visit had revealed and included extensive tearing around the vagina and rectum. This pointed to the fact that there may have been further intercourse after the clinic visit.
Al-Hikmi told the girl’s mother that his new bride was possessed by evil spirits and needed to be taken to a folk healer to cast them out. Hours later, Assi was dead.
The subject of Yemen's child brides received widespread attention three years ago when an 8-year-old girl had the courage to go by herself to a courtroom and demand a judge dissolve her marriage to a man in his 30s. She eventually won her divorce.
In September, a 12-year-old Yemeni child-bride died after struggling for three days in labor to give birth, a local human rights organization reported.
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