arranged marriage

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Cops: Parents Beat Teen Who Refused Arranged Marriage

Parents of 16-year-old Maarib Al Hishmawi in Texas have been arrested

(Newser) - The parents of a once-missing Texas girl were arrested last week after cops say they subjected her to serious abuse when she refused to let herself be handed over as a teenage bride. According to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, the parents of Maarib Al Hishmawi sold the 16-year-old...

17 Dead After Woman Allegedly Poisons Husband's Milk

Police say she wanted to 'avenge' her forced marriage

(Newser) - A 21-year-old woman in Pakistan has been charged with murder after police say she poisoned her husband's milk and ended up inadvertently killing 17 people, the AP reports. According to the Independent , Asiya Bibi (also reported as Aasia Bibi) was forced to marry a 25-year-old man against her will...

Man Arrested Under 1861 Sex Law

 Man Arrested 
 Under 1861 
 Sex Law 
in case you missed it

Man Arrested Under 1861 Sex Law

Software engineer in arranged marriage caught on film cheating with man

(Newser) - Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned—especially one in an arranged marriage in which her husband has rejected her. An Indian bride filed charges in Bangalore this month, claiming that not only was her husband cheating on her, but that he violated a colonial-era law that bans "...

Teen Sets House on Fire to Protest Arranged Marriage

It works: Wedding is off, and she avoids jail in Michigan

(Newser) - A Michigan teen is going to avoid jail after explaining to a judge the unusual circumstances that led her to set her own house on fire while her parents were sleeping, reports the Lansing State Journal . It seems that the Albanian parents of Arlinda Latifi told her they had arranged...

Yemen: Report of Child Bride's Death Is False

Authorities say girl in question is fine

(Newser) - Yemeni officials say a shocking media report about a child bride dying from internal injuries sustained on her wedding night simply isn't true, reports the Huffington Post . The initial report about the 8-year-old girl's death went viral, but now a local police official tells Gulf News that it'...

I've Spent 17 Years in an Arranged Marriage
I've Spent 17 Years in an Arranged Marriage
OPINION

I've Spent 17 Years in an Arranged Marriage

'To arrange a life is to control it ... but also to protect it,' writes Debie Thomas

(Newser) - Debie Thomas acknowledges that most Americans won't be able to grasp her compliance with her family's wishes, but saying no to her Indian parents was just "not an option." And though she prayed for a miracle, 17 years ago, Thomas—"a product of New England...

At Camp for Syrians, Foreign Suitors Seek Brides

Relief officials say matchmakers are preying on desperation

(Newser) - Many of the Syrians flooding into a refugee camp in Jordan are war widows with young children, a phenomenon that has attracted hordes of matchmakers and older Arab men from other countries looking for brides, reports the Washington Post . Some see it as a blessing—one 19-year-old, for example, accepted...

Teen Couple Leap to Deaths After Her Forced Marriage

Bangladeshi pair ended their lives on Valentine's Day

(Newser) - A love affair between two teens in Bangladesh ended in tragedy after the 16-year-old girl's family married her off to a man twice her age. The girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend tied their hands together with a scarf and jumped to their deaths from a mobile phone tower, the...

Woman Sues Over Oklahoma 'Slave Marriage'

Diptiben Mistry says she was brought from India to be 'house slave'

(Newser) - An Indian woman is suing her in-laws for an arranged "slave marriage" in their Oklahoma home. Diptiben Mistry was a 20-year-old college student in India when she married her Indian husband four years ago and moved with him to live at her in-laws' US home. There, Mistry says, her...

Indian Town Outlaws Cell Phones for Single Women

... To stop them from eloping

(Newser) - A council in northern India has forbidden all unmarried women from carrying cell phones, in an effort to prevent them from eloping with people of different castes. At least 23 young couples ran off and got married without their parents’ consent last year in Uttar Pradesh state, the AFP explains....

Thousands Marry in Mass Moonie Wedding
 Thousands Marry in 
 Mass Moonie Wedding 
slideshow

Thousands Marry in Mass Moonie Wedding

40,000 gather for blessing of Sun Myung Moon in Korea

(Newser) - He is nearly 90 years old, but Sun Myung Moon—cult leader, Washington Times founder, self-proclaimed Messiah—can still draw a crowd. The leader of the Unification Church led a mass wedding for some 40,000 people outside of Seoul today, on the campus of, yes, Sun Moon University. It...

Indians Arrange Marriages Via Reality TV

(Newser) - In the distant past, Indian parents arranged marriages with the help of relations and local priests. These days, they’re turning to Rupert Murdoch. News Corp’s Star TV has launched a daily reality show called Star Vivaah, or Star Weddings, a kind of video personals for prospective brides, grooms,...

Saudi Child Bride's Marriage Annulled

Wedding to middle-aged man sparked global controversy

(Newser) - The marriage of an eight-year-old Saudi girl to a man in his 50s that drew worldwide attention has been annulled in an out-of-court settlement, the BBC reports. A judge had twice denied the girl—reportedly married off by her father to pay a debt—a divorce. The case has led...

Saudis to Crack Down After Man Weds 8-Year-Old

Child marriages will be 'regulated'; no evidence they'll be barred

(Newser) - Amid an uproar over an adult man’s marriage to an 8-year-old girl, Saudi Arabia will begin regulating child marriage, the BBC reports. The country’s justice minister wants to end the “arbitrary” process, he said, though he didn’t say such matches would be banned. A court upheld...

Saudi Court Blocks Marriage to 8-Year-Old Girl

Mother wins appeal against daughter's arranged marriage

(Newser) - A Saudi Arabian appeals court has thrown out a ruling upholding an 8-year-old girl's marriage to a 47-year-old man, reports CNN. The marriage—arranged by the girl's father to settle a debt—still stands for now under Saudi law. But the ruling sustains a legal challenge to the marriage by...

Reality Show to Feature Arranged Marriage

Brains behind Top Chef , Project Runway team for venture

(Newser) - A series following arranged marriages is CBS’ next big reality-TV venture, James Hibberd writes on his Hollywood Reporter blog. The show, from the producers behind Project Runway and Top Chef, will follow four unlucky-in-love singles whose friends and family select a spouse; cameras will then continue to follow the couples...

Cops Bust Dad Who Married Off Girl, 14, for Beer

Arranged marriage legit in Mexico, but trafficking minors in Calif.

(Newser) - Something got lost in translation when a California man arranged for his 14-year-old daughter to marry an 18-year-old neighbor in exchange for cash, beer, and meat, reports the San Jose Mercury News. When the bridegroom failed to pay the promised $16,000, 160 cases of beer, and six cases...

Saudi Girl, 8, Can't Divorce Husband, 58: Court

Case must wait until girl hits puberty; she still lives with mother

(Newser) - An 8-year-old Saudi girl will remain married to her 58-year-old husband after a court struck down her mother’s request for a divorce, the Daily Mail reports. The hard-up father, who is divorced from the mother, signed a contract in August and received a dowry of about $7,400. The...

Men Are Victims of Forced Marriage, Too

Unwilling grooms often have few avenues of escape from family pressure

(Newser) - Young men in Germany's Turkish immigrant community are being forced into marriage by their families, Der Speigel reports. Organizations that help people escape from such marriages say the focus on female victims overlooks the fact that men are also being harassed, blackmailed and beaten into marriages, often to a close...

Teens Buried Alive in 'Honor Killings' Spark Pakistan Rage

They wanted to choose their own husbands

(Newser) - Nationwide protests have erupted in Pakistan since three teenage girls were buried alive in mid-July in a remote village because they planned to choose their own husbands, reports the Times of London. The girls—ages 14, 16 and 18—were abducted and tortured, then buried still breathing. Two older women...

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