This is the heartbreaking moment that girls, some as young as 14, from the Pokot tribe in Kenya are traded by their
families for a dowry of 20 goats, 3 camels and 10 cows in ‘traditional’ tribal wedding ceremony.
Before the ceremony, the girls are isolated for more than a month, meaning many are not aware they have been bargained away until their new husbands come to collect them. Kenyan law now forbids childhood marriage.
However, strict adherence to tradition is considered more important than complying with the law. The Pokot people are also known to practice female genital mutilation using scissors, a razor blade, or glass before they are sewn up and have their legs bound together until the wounds heal.
However, as the mutilation are usually carried out by unskilled quack doctors operating miles from any hospital and with no anesthetic or antibiotics, deaths are common due to blood loss or infection. If the girls do not die, then the stitches can cause them terrible pain and discomfort for the rest of their lives, especially during childbirth.
As with child marriage, the practice has now been outlawed in Kenya, with a maximum penalty of life in jail if a girl dies, but so far there has been no successful prosecution….. ds girls r darn expensive. Even wt d fall in crude oil price and bad economy, one can still get a beautiful fairly used Nigerian girl in good working condition wt a dowry of N10,000 before negotiation…..
