BURAO (HOL) – A 13- year-old boy and a girl of similar age ‘tied the knot’ Friday in Burao in Somali-land to become a husband and wife generating wide-spread reaction in the so-cial media. Pictures circu-lating in the social media show the visibly young teenagers after their sup-posed wedding.
A post in a Facebook page where the pictures first surfaced indicates the
two wedded in a ceremony attended ‘by several people from within and in the out-skirts of Burco’. The post indicates the two children are both aged 13 years. According to Somaliland Constitution, adulthood starts from the age of 15 though international stan-dards define an adult as someone of the 18 and above. The Federal Consti-tution has aligned itself with the internation-ally recognized age of 18.
Despite the legal frame-work, underage marriage in Somalia is still common as was the case witnessed in Burco. According to a re-port by Save the Children in 2017, early marriage prevalence in Somalia stands at 14% with higher rates recorded in south and central parts of the country.
