Nada al-Ahdal
Runaway child bride cries out against child marriage
Video of 11-year-old who fled from her family so as to avoid being married off circulates online; though she had an uncle to turn to, many children have nowhere to turn, she says
Nada al-Ahdal, 11-year-old girl from Yemen starred in a video that was circulated online, as she told the world she ran away from her family so as to avoid marrying a man many years her senior.
'This is no upbringing. This is criminal.' Nada al-Ahdal
Al-Ahdal's parents insisted that she marry, and she decided to run away and live with her uncle, who was against the marriage.
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"I filed a complaint with the police against my mother," the girl says in the video. "I told them I am 11 years old and that she wants to marry me off. I would have no life, no education. Don’t they have any compassion?
"I'm better off dead. I'd rather die," the girl added.
In the video, she also tells the tragic story of her aunt who was abused when married off young.
After their daughter ran away to her uncle, Nada's parents accused her uncle of kidnapping, prompting the Yemenite Interior Ministry to launch an investigation. The father eventually apologized and allowed his brother to continue raising Nada.
Go ahead and marry me off. I'll kill myself, just like that. I won't go back to live with them. I won't.
Though her fate has changed, al-Ahdal stresses in the video that many other children have nowhere to go. "They have killed our dreams," she exclaimed. "They have killed everything inside us.
"This is no upbringing. This is criminal, simply criminal."
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