The local court responded to the efforts of the SEYAJ Child Protection Organization by preventing the forced marriage of a 12-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in Hajjah Governorate, northwest Yemen. The Abs District Primary Court, presided over by Judge Majid Al-Harib, decided in its session on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, not to accept the marriage request for the girl, Hadeel Mohammed Issa, due to her young age. The protection officer at SEYAJ stated: “…Yesterday, Monday, we received a report from Hadeel’s family stating that she was at risk of being forced into marriage. She had been kidnapped by an adult, and after being taken to the district police and prosecution office, a lawsuit was filed requesting the court to marry her off to her kidnapper, claiming that she wanted to marry him and that her guardian refused. The report confirmed that Hadeel’s family was being pressured and threatened to force them into the marriage. Accordingly, we contacted the judge presiding over the case and asked him to prevent the marriage.” Hadeel and the referral of her kidnappers to justice, and obligating her family to protect and care for her and not inflict any physical or psychological harm upon her. We also contacted Judge Ali Al-Shumairi, a member of the Primary Prosecution who has the case file, and Sheikh Mohammed Baloush, the tribal leader who is keeping the child in his home with the prosecution’s approval. We asked them all to stand by and protect this minor child and others like her, as well as the families of those who committed these crimes against her. Siyaj emphasizes its demand that the judiciary impose the harshest penalties on all those involved in kidnapping the child, violating her childhood, and endangering her personal safety.
