Child Marriage: 120 Perpetrators of Child Marriage Arrested in Namin County
The prosecutor’s office of Namin County in Ardabil Province announced the arrest of 120 people involved in child marriages in the county, stating that the penalty for this crime is 6 months to 2 years imprisonment, which will also apply to the girl’s parents, groom, and the marriage official. The physical and psychological harms resulting from child marriage inflict irreparable damage on girls’ lives, particularly pregnancies under 18 years of age, maternal mortality, depression, and sometimes suicide attempts, alongside damages such as divorce, dropping out of school, and the persistence of cycles of cultural and economic poverty.
According to Hrana news agency, citing ROKNA, Azim Akbari, prosecutor of Namin County in Ardabil Province, announced the arrest of 120 individuals accused of child marriage in the county.
Referring to the fact that all these accused are from the city of Abi Bigloo, he emphasized: “These 120 people were informed of charges through investigation and interrogation, and bail was collected from all of them. Additionally, 2 marriage offices that were conducting illegal activities in collaboration with the marriage official were sent to prison for solemnizing marriages of girls under the legal age.”
Akbari added: “The law provides 6 months to 2 years imprisonment for this crime, and this law includes the girl’s parents, groom, and the marriage official, and the prosecution will deal severely with such cases.”
The Namin prosecutor, referring to the misconceived culture of marriage at childhood ages, stated: “Girls who marry at 9 or 10 years old suffer many harms such as divorce, family conflicts, and physical injuries, which unfortunately this wrong practice has been prevalent in this region for many years.”
He continued: “There is a misconceived culture in the region where most girls under 15 years old, if they do not marry, will not have any suitors, and consequently, marriage at young ages imposes many harms on girls.”
Akbari, stating that girls who are still at a playful age and lack any necessary training for married life, suddenly drop out of school at the primary level, added: “Under these conditions, in the future we will witness mothers who have several children while being illiterate themselves.”
Child marriage or child matrimony in Iran has been increasing in recent years. Child rights activists say this phenomenon will have a negative impact on the health of Iranian families in the future.
The high statistics of marriages of children who marry before reaching mental and intellectual maturity reflect the prevalence of this phenomenon in Iran. The marriage age in Iran is based on “sexual maturity,” whereas according to experts, sexual maturity is only part of the dimensions of complete human maturity. Development, awareness, education, and freedom of choice are the most essential and humane conditions for forming a family.
The physical and psychological harms resulting from child marriage inflict irreparable damage on girls’ lives, particularly pregnancies under 18 years of age, maternal mortality, depression, and sometimes suicide attempts, alongside damages such as divorce, dropping out of school, and the persistence of cycles of cultural and economic poverty.
According to published statistics, approximately 95,000 cases of divorce of women under 19 years of age were registered between the years 1390-1394 (2011-2015), of which about 5,760 divorces are related to marriages where both spouses were under 15 years of age.
Source: Hrana
