Nada Al-Ahdal, 11, flees home to avoid a forced marriage
A video posted on YouTube shows Nada Al-Ahdal, an 11-year-old Yemeni girl, telling how she escaped her parents, who wanted to force her to marry. She would rather die than be forced into child marriage, and she speaks about her ordeal with great clarity.
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Growing up with her uncle
Nada comes from a modest family and is one of eight children. Her uncle, Abdel Salam Al-Ahdal, works as a montage and graphics technician at a TV station. He took her in when she was three years old, to live with him and his ageing mother, away from her parents.
Nada was not the only child in the home. Her uncle had also taken in another nephew, whose own father could not afford the boy's medical care. Abdel Salam brought up both children and looked after them and his frail mother himself.
Nada grew up in this caring home. She went to school and learned English during the summer holidays. She had her own Facebook page, was a gifted singer and took part in musicals.
The first proposal
Her happiness was cut short when a man asked her parents for her hand. He was a Yemeni expatriate living in Saudi Arabia, and he did not care about her age. Her parents were pleased, because he worked abroad and was rich.
Abdel Salam told NOW: "When I heard about the groom, I panicked." Nada was still a young child. He said he could not allow her to be married off and her future destroyed, especially as her aunt had been forced to marry at 13 and had taken her own life.
"I did all I could to prevent that marriage," he said. He called the groom and told him Nada was no good for him. He said she did not wear the veil. When the groom asked whether that would stay the same, he answered: "Yes, and I agree, because she chose it." He also told him that she liked singing, and asked whether he still wanted the engagement.
The groom withdrew and told her parents he no longer wanted their daughter. They had been looking forward to a large bride price, and they were disappointed.
A sister engaged nine times
Nada has an 18-year-old sister who has been engaged many times. Each time, her parents accepted the proposal and took part of the bride price in advance. They then postponed the wedding until the groom had enough money, and in the end broke off the engagement without returning the money.
The same story began again with the next suitor. In this way, her sister had nine fiancés.
Nada disappears
After Abdel Salam stopped the first engagement, Nada's parents came from Zabid to Sana'a on a visit. They asked for their daughter to stay with them until mid-Ramadan. Abdel Salam agreed, and days later the parents told him that Nada had disappeared.
At one point Nada escaped and tried to return to her uncle. When she reached Sana'a, she was afraid he would take her back to her mother. He later learned that her mother wanted to marry her off again. She had not told him, because she feared he would scare the suitor away as he had the first time.
The family protection department
Abdel Salam took Nada to the family protection department of the Ministry of the Interior and explained what had happened. The department questioned Nada, her uncle and her parents. It found that there had been no kidnapping, and that the parents wanted to marry their daughter against her will.
The case ended with Nada's father apologising, for fear of being sentenced for a false accusation. He said he trusted his brother to bring up his daughter.
Nada's message to parents
In a message sent to NOW, Nada spoke to every mother and father who want to marry off their daughters. She said her aunt had been forced to marry and had taken her own life.
"I am a child and I want to realise my dreams," she said. "I want to go to school, become a star and help other children. I am not thinking about marriage; I don't want it now. I want to say to fathers and mothers: let us realise our dreams, do not kill them."