The Executive Director of Child Right International, Mr Bright Appiah has said that there is a need to situate the 12-year-old girl who got married to the 63-year-old Chief Priest in the context of what the law says.
He explained that whether it is a religious and traditional rite or even a civil action that involves a child, what the law says in respect of the child should be paramount.
He said “This particular issue is a bit complex because of some of the explanations we are getting from them and the investigations that we have also carried out out, things that are coming out. This particular issue we should not just look at it in the context of fulfilling a tradition but to also look at how we can protect the rights of children who are involved in this particular matter.
“All the explanations that we have gathered from them and also speaking to some traditional people in the area point to the fact that indeed, this is a custom that they do to make sure people perform specific duties, and the purpose of performing that duty is that the person should be a virgin. So irrespective of the age bracket it is expected that somebody must perform that rite but because it is about the child we have to situate the child in the context of the law because there is so much that protects the interest of children so whether it is the religious activity or traditional activity or a civil act the position of the law in respect of what the child is should also be taken into consideration in performing some of these rites.”
Also commenting on this matter, former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo described the marriage as an illegality.
She said it is a crime for which the state ought to have intervened.
