ALBAWABA - The heartbreaking story of Nuha Hayder, a 10-year-old Yemeni girl, has been circulating the internet in the past few days. Nuha was on a visit to her father who forced her to marry someone much older.
The story began when the Yemeni girl's stepfather took her to see her father whom she never met. Her father kept Nuha away from her mother and stepfather and forced her to marry.
*?تم تزوير عمرها.. تزويج طفلة عمرها 10 أعوام في #اليمن يثير ضجة على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي?
— بنت العرب (@BnFays) November 6, 2022
انتفضت وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي في اليمن إثر واقعة تزويج طفلة قاصرة تدعى نهى جميل علي عمر حيدر من سكان مديرية دمت، وتبلغ من العمر 10 أعوام. pic.twitter.com/ZdrOAwOgUF
After a while, Nuha Hayder's stepfather and mother discovered that the child's father faked her real age and forced her to marry a man in his 60s in a forged marriage contract.
Her mother shared the story of Nuha Hayder calling Yemeni authorities to interfere in saving the child. The hashtag '#أكبر_جريمة_بحق_الطفولة which means #The_biggest_crime_against_childhood' has been trending along with Nuha's story.
Yemeni police in Damt distract arrested Nuha Hayder's father and her husband along with the Sheikh who approved the marriage. Yemeni authorities also announced the annulment of the marriage.
The story of Nuha Hayder shed the light on the issue of child marriages in Yemen due to an ongoing civil war and the deteriorating living conditions which are leading to famine and severe hunger.
UNICEF report revealed that in Yemen 4 million girls get married before turning 18 adding that 1.4 of the child brides are under the age of 15.
