A couple has been jailed for three years for marrying off their 13- year-old girl in December 2008. Kerugoya Principal Magistrate Hanna Ndung’u said the two, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, stopped their daughter from going to school and married her off. She said the girl was performing well in school as shown by the results produced by the prosecution.
In Mitigation, the parents told the court they married their daughter off to get school fees for other children. The mother told the court that the husband had threatened to kick her out of their matrimonial home if she did not cooperate with his decision to marry off the girl.
The mother said she reluctantly agreed with the husband to marry off the girl. She added that she did not even know who was going to marry her daughter. She said she came to know the husband of her daughter three weeks after the girl left their home.
The magistrate said the offence attracted a serious punishment. She said the punishment will deter other parents from marrying off their school-going children. The mother was taken to Embu prison while her husband was taken to Kerugoya prison.
The young girl was ordered back to her parents home as the court and the childrens’ department try to find a solution of raising money for her education.
Source: www.nairobistar.com
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