An engagement ceremony for Egypt’s youngest couple stirs controversy… and urgent action by relevant authorities • Al-Marsad newspaper

Al-Marsad Newspaper: A village in Egypt’s Sharkia Governorate witnessed the engagement ceremony of the youngest newlyweds in a family.

According to Al-Arabiya.net, the bride is a child who has not reached the age of ten and is studying in the fourth grade of primary school, while the child groom is also 12 years old and studying in the sixth grade of primary school.

For her part, the mother of the groom, the little girl named Ziad, said that the engagement ceremony took place at the will of her grandfather on her mother’s side, in order to unite the family and work on its cohesion, reunification and increase ties between them.

He explained that this matter happens as a tradition in the family, during which the children are engaged from an early age, provided that the official engagement takes place after they have reached the legal age of marriage.

While the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood intervened promptly and obtained a commitment from the parents of the two children to break off the “engagement” and not to conclude the marriage until after they came of age.