15-Year-Old Daughter Burned To Death For Talking To Her Fiancé. "Honour Killing" You Say?
A Yemeni father has burned his 15-year-old daughter to death for keeping in touch with her fiance, sparking further outrage in Yemen, where an eight-year girl died from internal bleeding on her wedding night a month ago.
By Sadho Ram — 25 Oct 2013, 11:06 AM — Updated almost 11 years ago
The father, a 35-year-old man, was arrested in a village in Taiz Province.
A Yemini father has been arrested for burning his 15-year-old daughter to death because she committed the “crime” of talking to her fiance before their wedding.
cnn.com"The father committed this heinous crime on the pretext that his daughter had been keeping contacts with her fiance," the police website said on Tuesday, giving no further details.
emirates247.com
Police's statement did not clarify when the girl was killed.
themalaymailonline.com
In Yemen, burning his 15-year-old daughter to death is a father’s right. It is called “honor killing.” An “honor killing” is the murder of a family member for allegedly "shaming" the family with un-Islamic behavior.
independent.ie
The case is once again highlighting the plight of young girls in Yemen, where child marriages and honor killings still happen.
According to Human Rights Watch, more than half of all females in Yemen are married off before the age of 18.
reuters.com
Yemen's gripping poverty plays a role in hindering efforts to stamp out the practice, as poor families find themselves unable to say no to 'bride-prices' that can be hundreds of dollars for their daughters.
examiner.com
More than a quarter of Yemen's females marry before age 15, according to a report in 2010 by the Social Affairs Ministry. Tribal custom also plays a role, including the belief that a young bride can be shaped into an obedient wife, bear more children and be kept away from temptation.
opposingviews.com
The practice of marrying young girls is widespread in Yemen and has attracted the attention of international rights groups seeking to pressure the government to outlaw child marriages.
Image via dailymail.co.ukTraditional tribal customs in some parts of Yemen prohibit contact between men and women before marriage.
Last year, the UN Human Rights council raised concerns about so-called "honour killings" in the country. Perpetrators were not charged with murder, and faced only a six-month to one-year prison sentence, it found.
Accorded a low status in the family and community, many Yemeni women are subjected to various forms of violence, deprivation of education, early and forced marriages, sexual abuse, restrictions over freedom of movement, forced pregnancy, and female genital mutilation.
reuters.com