A judge in Tunisia has sparked outrage after approving the marriage of a 13-year-old who was made pregnant by her 20-year-old relative.
Organisations attempted to halt the marriage between the girl, from the northwestern city of Kef, and her older brother-in-law.
But a court spokesman announced that the girl “was not raped” and the judge ruled the controversial marriage could go ahead.
Chokri Mejri, a spokesman for the court told Le Parisien:"We interviewed the girl and after verifying all the details, we considered her fit for marriage.”
The age of consent in Tunisia is 18 but sex with a female under the age of 15 is punishable by six years in prison if it is done “without violence”.
But there is a loophole in the law that allows the perpetrator to avoid prosecution all together if he marries his victim.
Following the ruling, non-government organisations held protests outside the court.
The ministry of Women's Affairs, Family and Children in Tunisia released a statement saying it was “deeply concerned” by the decision and said the marriage should have been annulled "for the sake of the child's interest".
It called on parliament to speed up the process of adopting a bill to counter violence against women.
The bill would introduce outlaw marital rape and there would be an end to impunity for rapists if their victims are under 20 and they subsequently marry them.
After the decision, a fellow court judge, who did not want to be named, told CNN: "In that particular case, the judge was simply abiding the law, which is definitely an antiquated law.
"Tunisia was one of the first countries in the region to ratify international treaties that guarantee the rights of children.
“However this law was never amended. It's up to the judge to decide whether to apply it or not,"
MORE ABOUT