Faith healer marries 12-year-old live on television – outrage in Ghana: Instead of holiday in Bali, 10 years in prison: Ballermann singer released after cocaine smuggling

Although child marriages are prohibited in Ghana, they still occur. Now there are protests against a wedding of a twelve-year-old that was broadcast live on television.

The marriage of a 63-year-old traditional healer to a 12-year-old girl has sparked outrage in the West African country of Ghana. The wedding in the capital Accra was broadcast live on television this weekend. Ghanaians then protested on social media and called in the police, who took the underage bride into custody on Monday.

Child marriage prohibited

Child marriage is officially banned in Ghana – as in many other African countries. Nevertheless, they are common on the continent. According to the UN Children’s Fund Unicef, one in three young African women married before reaching the legal marriage age of 18. Girls in poor rural areas in particular are forced into child marriage. However, in urban Accra, a metropolis with a fairly modern society, child marriages are rare.

The twelve-year-old Ghanaian girl is now under police protection, the police said on Tuesday evening. The Ministry of Social Affairs was also involved. The 12-year-old’s mother is also in police custody, it was said. An investigation has been launched.

An association of traditional healers defended the marriage, arguing that a traditional healer who uses bones, animal skulls and herbs to invoke the help of ancestors must marry a virgin for cultural reasons; However, the ceremony does not mean that the man enters into a sexual relationship with the girl. Ghanaian human rights lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu said a traditional practice that violates the constitution should no longer be practiced and should be prosecuted. (sda/dpa)