Riyadh: A 12-year-old Saudi girl has dropped her petition to divorce an 80-year-old man her father forced to marry in exchange for a dowry, according to media reports on Tuesday.
The girl and her mother reportedly withdrew the case on Monday in a court in Buraidah in Al Qasim province.
The girl told the court that her marriage to the man was done with her agreement, according to Okaz newspaper.
According to reports, the girl's father, who is separated from her mother, arranged her marriage to the 80-year-old in exchange for a dowry payment of $22,667 (Dh83,414).
The case caused an uproar after A -Riyadh newspaper first reported it in early January, saying the marriage had been consummated and quoting the girl as pleading to the journalist to "save me."
Her mother petitioned the court to annul the marriage and charged that the girl had been raped.
The case was to be heard Monday, but reports said the mother dropped the complaint ahead of the hearing.
Saudi Arabia has no law against child marriage, and clerics and religious judges justify the practice based on Islamic and Saudi tradition.
Human rights officials have been pushing for a law that would set a minimum marriage age of 16 or higher.
