year-old girl drank bleach in a suicide attempt before her marriage to her 75-year-old groom to be. The girl, identified as Sheikha, drank a bottle and spent her wedding night at King Faisal Hospital in Taif comatose. Hospital officials have said Sheikha's condition is stable. She said she was living with her father in Madina after her parents separated. The mother currently lives in Al-Ula. “One day my father called me and told me to accept marriage to a man he knew. He threatened me not to think of refusing. Then he took me and an old man accompanied by a 13-year-old girl from Al-Sulaimaniah village to Al-Eiss village,” she said. “At the office of the marriage official (Ma'zoun) they asked for the results of pre-marriage tests which they said could be ready within a week if we start the procedures. But my father and the old man decided that we head to Yanbu to carry out the required tests as soon as possible.” She said the tests were completed later that afternoon and she was afraid of her father after he had threatened her. “I kept crying but they didn't give any attention to my tears despite the desperate attempts by the woman who hosted us in her house to officiate the marriage. She telephoned my mother and appealed to her to rescue me and stop this marriage.” At that point Sheikha discovered she was set to marry a 75-year-old man, making him 60-years older than her. The wedding was also being carried out as an Al-Shighaar (exchange) marriage where her father would marry the groom's 13-year-old daughter. Sheikha is demanding the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR) to intervene and stop the marriage because she never gave her consent on the issue. She also demanded her father no longer have custody over her so she can live with her mother in Al-Ula. Husein Al-Shareef, chairperson of NSHR for the Makkah Region said, “security agencies must intervene and open an investigation on the matter. We will follow up the case and collect information. If the girl is demanding divorce, then she must file a lawsuit.” Sheikha's mother has said security officials need to protect Sheikha from her father and her husband especially after her suicide attempt. She is demanding the marriage contract be cancelled because her daughter only agreed under duress from her father. Sheikha's mother said Sheikha's father did the same with their 16-year-old daughter coercing her into a marriage she did not consent to. She said she is being prevented from seeing her daughters by the Sheikha's father. Sheikh Abdul Mohsin Al-Obeikan, adviser to the Minister of Justice and member of the Shoura Council said the marriage contract is void because it violates the conditions for marriage under Shariah law. Judges are allowed to punish fathers who force their daughters to marry like this, Al-Obeikan said. Taif Police handed over Sheikha to the Social Care Home after she said she did not want to return to her father. Sheikha's maternal uncle said the family was not informed about the marriage or the signing of the marriage contract except after Sheikha made a telephone call from the hospital. – Okaz __
