Father arrested for forcing 11-year-old daughter to marry

A 37-year-old man in Ivory Coast would be arraigned in court on Wednesday for forcing his 11-year-old daughter to marry, AFP reports.
A small ceremony was organised for the young girl who got married on Thursday. A source in the police force however told AFP that the man who got married to the girl wont face prosecution.
On how the police got wind of the marriage, a source in the Judiciary told AFP that an NGO was responsible for alerting authorities. "It was lucky for us. Due to an NGO we were informed of the case.
Usually people refuse to denounce child marriage," said the source. AFP quotes a soon to be released UNICEF report which shows that child marriages in the country is not unusual as 12 percent of all Ivorians wed before they are 15 and 36 percent before the age of 18.




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