[wheelworks]

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Egypt bans 92-year-old's marriage
Egypt bans 92-year-old's marriage
By Frances Harrison
BBC News

The Egyptian authorities have banned a 92-year-old man from marrying a 17-year-old girl, the Egyptian al-Akhbar newspaper has reported.

The ministry of justice invoked a law which says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.

Egypt brought in the law prohibiting the marriage of elderly men to very young girls during the Gulf oil boom.

It was an effort to prevent wealthy men from the Gulf states seeking young poor brides from the Egyptian countryside.

Not much is known about the 92-year-old man who tried to marry an Egyptian girl of 17 except that he is an Arab from the Gulf.

An Egyptian justice official said by refusing to endorse their marriage it would now be impossible for the girl to travel abroad with her husband.

However, in special cases, the justice ministry does allow foreign men to marry Egyptian women more than 25 years their junior if they deposit a very large sum of money in the name of their wife at the Egyptian National Bank.

Both husband and wife also have to report in person to the ministry which checks their marriage is genuine to prevent any kind of trafficking in women.

According to the al-Akhbar newspaper, 173 such marriages were allowed in the past year after the foreign husband deposited a sum equivalent to about US $8,000 and was screened.

[Jamroll]

Originally Posted by wheelworks

The ministry of justice invoked a law which says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.

That's a strange law. I wonder why they have that.

[Rambo]

wow 92 year old marrying 17. thats just plain sick. agreed with the decision.

[nooni]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

That's a strange law. I wonder why they have that.

read the rest of the article, its there

[janat777]

i wonder how they decided at 25...

[roberto]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

That's a strange law. I wonder why they have that.

You can't be serious

[Jamroll]

Originally Posted by roberto

You can't be serious

About what?

[Jamroll]

Originally Posted by nooni

read the rest of the article, its there

Thank nooners, but I did read the article. I meant if the reason for prohibiting these marriages is to protect young Egyptian girls being taken advantage of by wealthy Gulf Arabs, why is the age gap 25 years? How did they come to 25 years? Surely a young girls could be exploited by someone who was only 24 years older than her, or even 10 years older.

There will be other cases where even an age gap of 35 years or more would occur between a husband and wife. If they're both happy with the arrangement, why should the courts come in and declare their marriage invalid? It's interfering in people's personal freedoms too much.

If young Egyptian girls being exploited by rich Gulf Arabs is a problem in Egypt, then there should be other measures used, not this arbitrary age gap restriction. Maybe they should judge it on a case-by-case basis, or have the age-gap restriction only on marriages to Gulf Arab nationals or something like that.

[roberto]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

About what?

As if you didn't know: your comment on the article

[roberto]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

Thank nooners, but I did read the article. I meant if the reason for prohibiting these marriages is to protect young Egyptian girls being taken advantage of by wealthy Gulf Arabs, why is the age gap 25 years? How did they come to 25 years? Surely a young girls could be exploited by someone who was only 24 years older than her, or even 10 years older.

There will be other cases where even an age gap of 35 years or more would occur between a husband and wife. If they're both happy with the arrangement, why should the courts come in and declare their marriage invalid? It's interfering in people's personal freedoms too much.

If young Egyptian girls being exploited by rich Gulf Arabs is a problem in Egypt, then there should be other measures used, not this arbitrary age gap restriction. Maybe they should judge it on a case-by-case basis, or have the age-gap restriction only on marriages to Gulf Arab nationals or something like that.

Wriggle away

[Salika]

Jamroll has a good point.

Anyways, so basically, you can't exploit young girls unless you're rich enough to give money to Egypt.

[Jamroll]

Originally Posted by roberto

As if you didn't know: your comment on the article

Originally Posted by roberto

Wriggle away

I don't understand what you're asking, or why you have such an attitude.

[sixpakistan]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

Thank nooners, but I did read the article. I meant if the reason for prohibiting these marriages is to protect young Egyptian girls being taken advantage of by wealthy Gulf Arabs, why is the age gap 25 years? How did they come to 25 years? Surely a young girls could be exploited by someone who was only 24 years older than her, or even 10 years older.

There will be other cases where even an age gap of 35 years or more would occur between a husband and wife. If they're both happy with the arrangement, why should the courts come in and declare their marriage invalid? It's interfering in people's personal freedoms too much.

If young Egyptian girls being exploited by rich Gulf Arabs is a problem in Egypt, then there should be other measures used, not this arbitrary age gap restriction. Maybe they should judge it on a case-by-case basis, or have the age-gap restriction only on marriages to Gulf Arab nationals or something like that.

must spread rep.. seems like a pretty stupid law

[ShotgunMessiah]

Originally Posted by Salika

Jamroll has a good point.

Anyways, so basically, you can't exploit young girls unless you're rich enough to give money to Egypt.

This is exactly what I thought. Not only that, but $8,000 really isn't that much. If you're a rich older guy who wants a sweet young thing to "exploit" odds are pretty good you can afford to hand over a few grand to the government and sweep her off her feet.

[Variable]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

Thank nooners, but I did read the article. I meant if the reason for prohibiting these marriages is to protect young Egyptian girls being taken advantage of by wealthy Gulf Arabs, why is the age gap 25 years? How did they come to 25 years? Surely a young girls could be exploited by someone who was only 24 years older than her, or even 10 years older.

There will be other cases where even an age gap of 35 years or more would occur between a husband and wife. If they're both happy with the arrangement, why should the courts come in and declare their marriage invalid? It's interfering in people's personal freedoms too much.

If young Egyptian girls being exploited by rich Gulf Arabs is a problem in Egypt, then there should be other measures used, not this arbitrary age gap restriction. Maybe they should judge it on a case-by-case basis, or have the age-gap restriction only on marriages to Gulf Arab nationals or something like that.

Maybe it was based on stats?