A Sudanese court has annulled the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to a 40-year-old man underlining that the marriage was illegal.

The court has ruled that the girl should go back to her parents and placed a restraining order against the husband.

According to a press statement released by the girl’s lawyer, Abdel Fatah Hessen said he maintained that “the court annulled the marriage because the court did not previously allow it to happen”.

The judge also ordered an investigation with the registered authority who officiated the marriage in addition to ordering the girl’s father to protect her and placed a restraining order against the husband.

The girl in question is still in school and was married to the 40-year-old man with the consent of her father back in January.

The “bride” went to the police's Child Protection Unit, where she filed a complaint against her husband, who has physically abused her after tying her up.

The girl filed a complaint in the Personal Status Court in the Abu Adam district south of Khartoum, demanding that the marriage be annulled, especially after she was subjected to injuries and bleeding after providing proofs for her physical abuse.

Al arabiya