Police Forces Stop Marriage of Underage Girl in Iran’s Mashhad

The Iranian Judiciary says it has saved a nine-year-old girl from getting married to a much older man in the holy city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi Province.

The deputy prosecutor of Mashhad, Hassan Heidari, said upon receiving the news of a wedding ceremony in which a parentless underage girl was supposed to marry a much older man, the judiciary officials immediately stopped it.

The judiciary official said, at 11 pm police forces and social workers were deployed to the place to stop the wedding. The bride and groom’s elders were required to temporarily protect the girl until a thorough examination of the legality of the girl’s marriage was carried out.

Orders were also issued to transfer the girl to a child welfare centre in order to further protect the girl’s rights.

“Child marriage is prohibited in Iran, and the prosecutor will deal with the offenders,” noted Heidari.

Earlier, an Iranian legislator said the country’s Parliament has decided to introduce a plan to adopt tougher laws on child marriage by raising the legal age of marriage.

Based on the new law, marriage of girls under 13 will be prohibited.

This comes as some Iranian girls are currently still being allowed by their parents to marry under this age. Such permission is usually given by their fathers due to their drug addiction or poverty.

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