The
Internet video of an 11-year-old Yemeni girl who ran away from home after her
parents sought to force her into an arranged marriage has gone viral.
The
girl, Nada al-Ahdal, is seen in the video, which was translated and first
posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute, protesting her parents’
decision while accusing them of threatening her life if she refused to go along
with their plans.
“Go
ahead and marry me off. I’ll kill myself,” she is seen saying. “Don’t they have
any compassion? I’m better off dead. I’d rather die,” she continued. “It’s not
[the kids’] fault. I’m not the only one. It can happen to any child. . . . They
have killed our dreams, they have killed everything inside us. There’s nothing
left. There is no upbringing. This is criminal, this is simply criminal.”