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8-Year-Old Boy Marries 61-Year-Old Woman

Imagine you have a child. Let's say a son. He's only 8 years old. That's only Standard 2 in primary school. 8-year-old kids today should be out at the field playing hopscotch, listening to Justin Bieber or catapulting Angry Birds on an iPad. That's not the case for Sanele Masilela from South Africa however, who just got married to a 61-year-old woman, Helen Shabagu, in front of 100 guests. Would you marry someone 53 years older like Sanele, if your dead ancestors told you to?

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Boy, 8, weds 61-year-old woman

kawen sebab nenek moyang yang dah mati suruh

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The couple swapped rings and kissed in the ceremony in Tshwane, South Africa, which Sanele claimed his dead ancestors ordered him to arrange.

thesun.co.uk

Sanele Masilela - who barely reaches his wife’s shoulders - tied the knot with Helen Shabangu, aged 61, at a ceremony in Tshwane, South Africa, in front of 100 guests.

malaysia-chronicle.com

Why did it happen?

The boy, from Tshwane, South Africa, said he had been told by his dead ancestors to wed and his family, fearing divine retribution, forked out for a wedding.

dailymail.co.uk

The young boy said his grandfather had wanted him to get married while he was alive. The boy admitted that he was quite open to the idea.

emirates247.com

"I didn't have a problem with it because I know it's what the ancestors wanted and it would make them happy," Sanele, 8-year-old groom

dailymail.co.uk

His family, who forked out £1,500 on the wedding, insisted it was only a ritual and was not legally binding.

thesun.co.uk

Both families are happy, including woman's husband

Despite being old enough to be his grandmother, bride Helen, whose children are aged between 37 and 27, was happy with the arrangement.

dailymail.co.uk

Her husband of 30 years, Alfred, 65, said: 'My kids and I are happy.

dailymail.co.uk

'We don't have problems with it but some of the community members were shocked.'

dailymail.co.uk

Other similar scenarios

Anak perempuan 12 tahun tetap nak tinggal di rumah teman lelakinya. Kesian bapa perlu memohon mahkamah untuk meluluskan pernikahan pasangan muda ini.

says2.com

The ten-year-old Yemeni girl managed to escape her home and made her way to a courthouse to request a divorce from the man in his 30s her father had forced her to marry and who beat her.

dailymail.co.uk

Five-year-old Rajani is roused from her sleep long after midnight and carried to her wedding by her uncle.

dailymail.co.uk

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