Man, 70, Divorces 15-Year-Old In Saudi Arabia

In the case of a Saudi Arabian teenager who was forced to wed a 70-year-old man, a divorce was granted.

CNN reported that the man was angered when he claims the brides family forced him to pay a $20,000 dowry and then took their daughter back. The Human Rights Commission in Saudi Arabia said to CNN that the two had a fight then she ran away to her family.

There is no minimum age in Saudi Arabia for marriage and though the man told CNN that he is 70, the Human Rights Commission believes that he is 86. He also told CNN that he thought his bride was 25 but she says she is 15.

He said to CNN, "She is not 15 as everybody claims," the man told CNN. "She's 25 years old and she's mature enough to make her own decisions... I was fooled by the girl's family."

The commission sent an investigator to the girl's home in Al-Hurath village in Jizan province which is in Southwest Saudi. On Wednesday the commission's president, Dr. Bandar Alaiban, said a meeting had taken place with the girls parents, the girl and the man she married.

"A divorce has taken place," Alaiban told CNN, "and the dispute has now been resolved amicably."

The marriage which was all over the media, angered a number of human rights groups.

"When you consider the very large difference in age, it looks more like this was not a marriage, but like the girl was sold," Dr. Suhaila Zein al-Abedin of the Saudi National Associate for Human Rights said to CNN. "The girl's parents need to be held responsible for this."