Outrage in Somalia after the man says he married for the eight -year -old

The outrage spread to Somalia after an eight -year -old girl who disappeared for six months was found to live with a man who said she was her husband.

The girl was reported to have disappeared from her family in the Puntland semi -autonomous region last September.

Months later, the girl’s father had agreed to marry an adult named Sheik Mahmoud.

Security forces surrounded the man’s house last week and forced you after he locked himself in a room with the girl.

The incident caused anger for social media and public protests in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu.

It also provoked new debates on child protection laws, as there is currently no minimum legal age for marriage.

“What is more shocking than the tragedy itself is the allegations of abduction and the fact that her family has not known their location for months,” said Fadumo Ahmed, chairman of the leading Somali Women’s Vision Group, before the BBC.

“We trust responsible institutions to take the right and necessary legal action.”

According to Uncle of the eight -year -old youth, she was taken from her home in the city of Bosso last September by a woman’s relative. This relative said she escorted the child when traveling to see another uncle.

But months later, the video emerges online, showing the girl reciting the Qur’an.

Subsequently, her family began the search for the child – it is not clear why they did not do this earlier.

They found that she was in the Carmo area living with Sheik Mahmoud.

Initially, Sheikh Mahmoud said he only taught the Koran Girl. But after filing legal complaints, he changed his statement, stating that he had married the girl with his father’s consent.

Asked by the BBC how he justifies to marry eight years old, Sheikh Mahmoud said that the traditions of the Prophet of Islam Mohammed, along with those of Shafti’s thought, allow a childhood marriage.

After the BBC questioned its reasoning – referring to the opposition to numerous Somali Islamic scholars – Sheikh Mahmoud supports he will not abandon the marriage.

The police and the human rights organs of Puntland intervened on March 25, removing the girl from the man’s home after her family filed her complaint.

The girl is now back with her family, Puntland police told the BBC.

In addition, an investigation into the case has begun, government officials said.

The marriage remains widespread in Somalia.

According to a report published in 2020 by the Fund for Population of the United Nations and the Somali Government, 35% of women between the ages of 20 and 24 in the country were married before the age of 18. In 2017, this figure is 45%.

The degree of childhood marriage is guided by various factors, including poverty, insecurity and traditional customs that often neglect the girl’s age in wedding arrangements.

In an attempt to deal with this issue, the Ministry of Women and Human Rights in Somalia filed a draft bill on the rights of the child in parliament in 2023.

However, the proposal was sent back after the deputies objected to certain provisions. The bill is expected to be introduced again, but there is no clear timeline.