Yemeni Child Bride, 12, Dies in Childbirth

Girl forced to marry 24-year-old dies after three days in labor

By Mary Papenfuss, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 15, 2009 3:03 AM CDT

(Newser) – A pregnant 12-year-old Yemeni girl has died after three days of excruciating labor that also claimed her baby, a human rights group tells CNN. Fawziya Ammodi's poverty-stricken family forced her to drop out of school last year to marry a 24-year-old man. More than half of Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18—many times to much older men

The issue gained prominence last year when a 10-year-old successfully obtained a divorce from an older husband she said beat and raped her within weeks of their marriage. Yemeni legislators have since tried—unsuccessfully—to set the minimum age of marriage at 17, but the practice remains commonplace.

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Nujood Ali, 10, and her lawyer leave the stage after being honored at the Glamour Women of the Year awards in New York last year. The Yemeni girl went to court to be freed from her forced marriage. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

A 12-year-old Yemeni girl and her baby have died after three days in labor. (©TonyChen)

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Although the cause of her death was lack of medical care, the real case was the lack of education in Yemen and the fact that child marriages keep happening. - Ahmed al-Qureshi, president of the Seyaj Organization for the Protection of Children

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 16 comments

Guest

Oct 6, 2009 12:49 AM CDT

snarf , you are so right , I should have said the some of the old , but not the oldest ,... thanks good stuff

Guest

Sep 18, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

NUKE EM!!!

riffran

Sep 16, 2009 2:06 AM CDT

OMFG!....A 12 year old?......That is some truly sick sh**......I can gaurentee you that if anybody tried to even get near my 11 year old daughter for the intentions of having sex or marriage that would be one dead sumbitch...And in this case the parents did it to her!..That just blows my mind...The pedophile 24 year old and the father should be punished severely....and I wouldn't shed a tear if it happened to be a stoning...That poor poor girl

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Yemeni Child Bride, 12, Dies in Childbirth