Six months after going missing, an eight-year-old girl was found living with a man who said he was her husband. Last September, a family in Puntland, a semi-autonomous territory, reported the girl missing.
Months later, it was revealed that the girl’s father had agreed for her to marry an adult named Sheikh Mahmoud. Last week, security forces surrounded the man’s house and forced their way inside after he barricaded himself in a room with the girl.
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The incident has aroused fury in Somalia, prompting public protests in the capital, Mogadishu, as well as on social media. According to the BBC, there is now no minimum legal age for marriage, which has sparked new arguments over child protection regulations.
The eight-year-old’s uncle claims that a female relative took her from her Bosaso, Spain, home last September. This relative stated that she was escorting the child to see another uncle.
However, months later, a video emerged online of the girl reciting the Quran. Her family then began a search for the child. They found her in the Carmo area, living with Sheikh Mahmoud.
Sheikh Mahmoud initially stated that he was just teaching the girl the Quran. But once legal complaints were filed, he changed his story, claiming he married the girl with her father’s permission.
When questioned how he justified marrying an eight-year-old, Sheikh Mahmoud stated that child marriage was permissible under the traditions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and the Shafi’i school of thought.
Sheikh Mahmoud defended his decision to stay married even after the BBC questioned his justification, citing criticism from several Somali Islamic scholars.
After the girl’s family complained, Puntland’s police and human rights officials stepped in on March 25 and took the girl away from the man’s house.
The police agency in Puntland told the BBC that the girl was now back with her family. Government officials have also announced that an investigation into the case has begun.
Fadumo Ahmed, chairperson of the leading rights group the Somali Women Vision Organization, told the BBC, “What’s more shocking than the tragedy itself are the allegations of abduction and the fact that her family had no knowledge of her whereabouts for months.”
“We trust the responsible institutions to take the right and necessary legal action.”
Child marriage persists in Somalia, with 35% of women aged between 20 and 24 in the country being married before the age of 18. To address this issue, Somalia’s Ministry of Women and Human Rights submitted a draft child rights bill to parliament in 2023.
However, the proposal was returned after MPs objected to some sections. The bill is expected to be reintroduced, but there is no specific deadline.
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