By Mohammed al-Kibsi
Nojoud Ali Al-Ahdal is the most famous Yemeni child bride
and the first ever that revolted against the law and Yemeni tradition when
approached a court in Sana’a demanding to be divorced from her 33 years old
husband when she was only 9 years old.
Nojoud won the Glamour Magazine prize along with Condoleezza
Rice to be the woman of the year in 2008.
A book about her life and her story was published by a
French publication house in 2008. The publisher bought Nojoud a house in al-Hasaba neighborhood Sana’a from her share
of the book sales. He also pays her a US$ 1000 a month to her father’s account
as Nojoud is under age and cannot have her own account.
This money is supposed to be spent for her living along with
her family. However recently her father got married to a third wife that keeps
making troubles to Nojoud and her brothers and sisters.
A day after day Nojoud
that is the symbol of Yemeni revolutionary women and children suffered a
lot from her father and his new wife harassment a matter that forced Nojoud and
some of her brothers to leave her own home for her father and his new wife. She
preferred to go live with her father’s second wife in al-Qa’a neighborhood.
Last Sunday Nojoud went to her father on the same day he
received the monthly 1000 dollars asking him to give her, and her mother and
other family members a share of the money.
The father got mad at her and asked her to offer him half of
the house and half of the book’s sales otherwise he would kill her.
Fortunately her brothers prevented him from hurting her and
they locked her in her room to protect her.
Her father kept trying to break the door threatening to kill
her if she did not answer his demands.
On Monday Nojoud told her family she would go to her
grandmother that lives near Tahrir in Sana’a.
She approached Relief International office in Sana’a, where
she knows one of RI staff asking for help.
So far RI staffer contacted some lawyers. Lawyer Qais Sanabani
promised to help her through the Justice and Development Center to provide her
free legal assistance.
Nevertheless Nojoud that is revolting against her father’s
harassment and against masculine supremacy this time that gives her father the
right to spend her own money for entertaining himself is asking help from NGOs.
RI is approaching all NGOs in charge to help Nojoud live her
own life and have access to education as she did not go to school last year due
to security problems and family problems.
Nojoud is 15 years old now but she is still in 4th
grade due to family problems and threats from unknown people that have been
texting her and calling her on her cell phone to never goes out of her home or
else.
The US Secretary of state Hilary Clinton met with Nojoud
during her visit to Yemen last year, praised her courage and promised her
dignitary life.
“All I want is to live an ordinary life and go to school
like all children do and never be subjected to harassment or threats,” cried
Nojoud with tears dropping from her
innocent childish eyes.
All RI could do was asking staff to donate for Nojoud to
have dinner for the night, promising her to pass her complain to the NGO’s in
charge to find her temporary solution.
Lawyer Qais Sanabani promised to cancel her father’s custody
through the court but this cannot be achieved during Ramadan month as the
Yemeni courts are in vacation till the 10th of Shawal Islamic month
that coincides the 2nd of September 2012.
Nojoud has 15 brothers and sisters 10 of them are younger
than her. They all used to live from the money she gets from the publisher of
her book. But now they all live from food that her step mother collects from
neighbors.
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