VIDEO: 11-year-old Yemeni girl flees home to avoid forced marriage

MEMRI video of Nada al-Ahdal has gone viral on the Web; girl says she would "rather die" than be married off.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
11-year-old Yemeni girl Nada al-Ahdal 370 (photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
11-year-old Yemeni girl Nada al-Ahdal 370
(photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
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.”