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A Sad Account! Child Bride Flees Her Arranged Marriage In Kenya
Malika Rashid would be celebrating her tenth day of marriage today if she hadn’t run away from the lavish wedding celebration her family had prepared in their Kipao village home, Tana Delta.
The 15-year-old was scheduled to enroll in North Eastern Province Girls High School in Garissa County this week after earning 365 points on her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) last year.
However, her stepfather and other family members thought she had enough knowledge and was ready for marriage.
Hamlet received word in November inviting potential grooms to marry the girl, and both young and old people expressed interest.
“I told my relatives that I wanted to go to secondary school, but they would hear none of it.
They said it was worthless for me and I would be better off in marriage since I am quite enlightened with my grade eight education,” she iterated.
An elderly guy in his forties “won the bid” in the race to find the little bride, and wedding preparations got underway.
As a result, a date of December 16th was chosen.
Her aunt and step-father bargained the bride price because they had paid for her basic school education as her ailing and widowed mother was unable to.
“I resided with my aunt for most of my primary school years. Since my father passed away, my mother has been living alone and was unable to provide for me because of her lack of money,” the teen described how she was coerced into complying with their requests in this manner.
Mariam became more and more adamant that she would not get married as time went on.
She was, however, disregarded and told that it was typical for local girls getting married to say things like that.
As a result, she sought to find a way out of the hamlet as preparations for her “Nikah” (engagement ceremony) picked up speed, and some of her acquaintances and a cousin of her mother made promises to assist her.
She vanished the night before the wedding, leaving the event in limbo, family members irate, and the alleged husband dissatisfied.
“They were pressuring me to get married, and to a man who was old enough to be my grandfather, despite the fact that I had made it obvious to them that I didn’t want to do so. I simply want to attend school “She spoke.
Mariam told her mother that she had found safety at a friend’s house.
She currently resides at the safe house in the hopes of receiving assistance so she can enroll in secondary school and earn good grades in preparation for her desired job as a surgeon.
“I want to change the pattern in my lineage. My mother was married at my age, and only a few women whose parents were enlightened made it to school.
I want to take a different path and make something of myself,” she emphasized.
Mariam, who cannot afford the Sh54,544 school tuition and other expenses necessary to join Form One, is hoping that a supporter of the education of a pastoralist girl child will step up to help her when other kids begin attending various secondary schools this week.
She has looked into every possibility for scholarships with the assistance of her guardian angel, but she hasn’t given up on them.
Her guardian, Fathma Abdulahi, claimed that Mariam’s mother is frightened of keeping her in the house since her uncles won’t give up on them.
She added that although she was relieved that her daughter was safe and that she could continue her education, the strain from the family was too much for her to bear.
Meanwhile, sadly enough, the guardian admits she cannot keep the child for a long time because she lacks the resources, but she wishes she could do more for the intelligent child.
