Saudi Girl, 12, Wins Divorce From Husband, 80

Saudi Arabia could introduce a minimum age of marriage for the first time after a 12-year-old girl won a divorce from her 80-year-old husband.

Aisha was 11 when she was married against her wishes to her father's elderly cousin last year in her hometown of Buraidah. Her father was paid a dowry of $23,350.

The marriage caused an uproar after a Saudi newspaper reported it, saying the marriage had been consummated and quoting the girl as pleading to the journalist to "save me."

Her mother petitioned the court to annul the marriage and charged that the girl had been raped.

The case has been debated in Saudi Arabia with some judges and clerics citing the Prophet Muhammad's marriage to a 9-year-old girl as justification for the practice.

The case has prompted the Human Rights Commission to demand a legal minimum age of 16.

The girl has now reached an agreement with her family and the divorce will be settled privately rather than in the courts, The Telegraph reported.

The 12-year-old girl's marriage was not the only one in the kingdom to receive attention in recent months. Saudi newspapers have reported several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men for hefty marriage gifts/dowry.

Photo: BareNakedIslam