13 year old Child bride, dies after intercourse

An underage Yemeni girl died of internal bleeding following intercourse four days after she was married off to a man almost twice her age.

Ilham Mahdi al Assi, 13, was married in a traditional arrangement, in which the brother of the bride also married the sister of the groom. According to the medical report released by the hospital, she was exposed to sexual exhaust and had suffered rupture of the womb.

Last year, 12-year-old Fawziya Abdullah Youssef died of severe bleeding while giving birth to a stillborn in Hodeida province.

Child marriages are very common in Yemen and sometimes, poor parents give away their young daughters in exchange for large dowries.