Marriage of 12-year-old Iraqi girl sparks outrage, mother worried

Gulf Today Report

A video clip of the marriage of an Iraqi girl, 12, spread on the social media platforms and received mixed reactions between opponents and supporters.

The girl's mother, who is separated from her husband, appealed through a video clip, to the people and the authorities to save her daughter, but the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said that "Sharia and the law allows the marriage of a minor by proxy of her father."

The girl's mother, affirmed that her minor daughter's marriage took place through a "customary and illegal contract."

This stirred anger of activists who organised a campaign to pressure the authorities, which pushed the community police in the Relations and Information Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, to follow up the case.

The community police issued a statement on Facebook which sparked widespread controversy and made matters worse.

The statement stated: "The Director of the Community Police, Brigadier General Ghalib Al Attiyah, formed a working team to find out the truth of what was in the video, and the team met the girl, her father, her husband and her brother and the girl affirmed that the marriage took place with her consent, and that no one forced her to do it. Also, the team was briefed on the legal contract under which the girl's marriage took place.”

The statement of the Iraqi Community Police angered activists and Iraqi civil forces, who called on the authorities to fight the underage marriage phenomenon, as well as domestic violence, which is increasing at an escalating rate.