Tunisian authorities have authorized the marriage of a 13-year-old girl with a relative who impregnated her provoking outrage from organizations that believe she was raped. Article 227 of the Tunisian Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of six years for anyone who has “sexually abused a child under the age of 15 years without violence.” But the prosecution held that the child was “fit for marriage”

The child in the Kef region is “13 years and 11 months old and has not been raped,” the spokesman for the Kef Court of First Instance said on Tuesday. “And after verification of all the details, we considered that she was fit for marriage. The proof is the pregnancy”, he said, referring to a pregnancy of two or three months.  The Kef court gave the go-ahead on the 1^st of December and the signing of the marriage contract took place on December the 5th.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that Child welfare associations requested for a cancellation of marriage contract. A party was scheduled for Sunday but was canceled after Kef’s child protection intervened.  A spokesperson for the Kef’s Child Protection Unit observed that “When it comes to a 13-year-old child, we cannot talk about sexual intercourse with consent, this is a rape. This child cannot go in addition to marrying her rapist as it is a violation of her physical and mental integrity.” she insisted. The president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women considered this case “scandalous”.

By Chi Prudence Asong with cables from MSN