Deputy Minister of Health and Population Maysa Shawky, and the general supervisor of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, confirmed that the Council supports the Administrative Prosecution Authority’s referral of a preacher to urgent trial, who was reportedly involved in marrying off 27 underaged girls. The preacher works as an imam of Al-Arbaeen mosque in the village of Mitt Habib in Mahalla al-Kubra city, Gharbiya governorate. The imam kept the checks and and would tear them up after the marriage was officially registered. Marriage of minors is a violation of the provisions of the Constitution, the Child Law and the Civil Status Law which states the legal marriage age is 18 years old. Shawky pointed out to the need to have a clear article in the law that criminalized unofficial marriages to minors, as the current law only criminalizes the official marriage of minors.

Source: Egypt Independent October 03, 2017 09:56 UTC