World

Wedding of child stopped in Yemen

06:09 am on 9 November 2013

The human rights ministry in Yemen says one of its officials has stopped the wedding of a nine-year-old girl that was due to take place on Friday.

An official told the BBC it was the first such intervention to stop a child marriage in Yemen.

The child was due to have been married on 8 November in the southern city of Taiz.

A ministry official said a representative found out about the wedding and informed the police who spoke to the father of the girl and persuaded him to cancel the marriage.

But the BBC reports the girl's fate still remains in the balance - human rights officials say there is nothing to stop her still being married off at a later date.