http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/2...an-112-marriage

... i wonder if you can get Viagra in Somalia?

His "dream" is !@#$@#$ an underage person while being a fossil? Okay.

Pig disgusting.

she's obviously not underage in somalia.

also, I bet he's rich.

I honestly couldn't agree more... the fact that he has 114 Children and Grandchildren... and that a good portion of the latter would be around that age... pretty damn bad

In other thoughts how messed up would it to be in competition with your great grandfather over women :S

There has to be a reason on why society finds it disgusting that young women (I don't mean children) voluntarily mate with older men, really. Is it the competition we hate?

Honestly, this is all subjective. As long as both parties consent, what right to do we have to impose our ideas of right and wrong. I am assuming of course she wasn't forced, I mean she is 17 and I am sure by 17 Somalians have all but grown up considering the life expectancy there.

She's barely underage in most Western countries.

Holy !@#$ this is Twilight.

I wasn't making a point of the legality of it, i was making a point of the shear size of the gap here and the fact that he must have Great-Grandchildren that age...

Good on him.

I don't see how it's inappropriate, the girl is old enough to think for herself and they more than likely love each other.

Holy !@#$ 114 kids and grandkids?! WTF!!!

She wouldn't be underage in the US either. 37 states place the age of consent at 17 or lower.



Here is a chart of age of consent laws across the world. Notice how the entire first world aside from a handful of US states places the age below 18.

I haven't been able to find any pictures or legitimate sources to verify this claim.
My life experience tells me that if it's too fanciful to be true, it's too fanciful to be true.

I'm skeptical on the legitimacy of this story. If however it turns out to be true, meh? What's the big deal.

This man has succeeded at survival of the fittest.

That is age of consent for sex. I meant marriage. I don't know if they are the same in other countries, but they aren't in Canada.

How is a major British Newspaper not a legitimate source?

So the guardian has never been wrong? Short term memory?

Name one news outlet that has been 100% right with every story it has ever run and i will eat my hat complete with mayonnaise and some salad. Until then stick with the balance of probabilities, they are right what, 85-90% of the time, they have a left wing bias but that doesn't apply to this piece and the few contractions i have seen written in their paper have been honest and forthright. Which as compared to other news sources frequently posted in this forum is a good bloody record.

Oh man, I lol'd hard

That's still below 18. Every first world nation except Japan and Switzerland allows marriage at 17 or lower with parental consent. See this page. There would be nothing illegal about this Somalian marriage if it had occurred in the West.

Please note, in the op i mentioned nothing about legality it infact says "inappropriate" I.E. #$&^ing creepy

Just thought I'd point that one out folks

I fail to see how this is wrong. If the old guy had forced or bought or some such thing to make the girl become his bride then sure but if a 112 year old man can convince and marry a 17 year old girl then the best to him. Likelihood is he will get to spend the remaining years of his life in the company of a nice likely good looking young lady and the girl will receive a good amount of money in the will. Undoubtedly some people won't help but to draw parallels to this and prostitution but honestly as long as its between two consenting mature people then why do you have a problem.

I wasn't saying it would be illegal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8331136.stm



She looks happy... Honestly, what 17 year old girl would want to marry a 112 year old man for love?

Oh god, I lol'd so hard.

I wouldn't be surprised if he kicked the bucket before their first anniversary, considering his age and the land he lives in, but then again, reaching 112 in a civil war-torn underdeveloped country already defies all odds.

Seems such geriatric fancies are not so isolated! Consider this.

Woman, 107, Seeks 23rd Husband

exactly 17 is not a child. Nature gives us our reproduction ability long before the government calls us an adult, I go with nature.

And I think the reason is that people think "they couldn't have anything in common or actually like each other" so its just about sex. And society is very sexually repressed, we have to have "other" reasons for sex, not just for the joy of sex.

Then what did you and Shoe mean by "underage"? That term usually implies a certain illegality, particularly when referring to a 17-year-old who is well past the age of sexual maturity.

Wow. 9 is the age of consent in some countries? In Australia the consent age for "normal" sex is 16 but is 18 for homosexual sex. Weird.

And good on him. If I live to be 112 I wouldn't mind a 19yo bride. It would definitely brighten up my day.

EDIT: I know the OP said 17 yo bride, but I'd rather a 19 yo.

shoot i'll take 16

I can't say I'd make either of these choices (to marry someone so young or so old), but I'm not either of these people, so I can't really judge their consensual decisions. As long as they are consensual.

The fact that he was 95 when she was born is a bit creepy though.

as for it being the most inappropriate relationship in history:

1) they're both alive
2) they're both human
3) they're not directly related by blood

so no, it's not the most inappropriate relationship in history.

Notice there isn't a single quote from the blushing bride to be? I seriously doubt she had a say in the matter. It was more likely he and his family making their case to her family. In the end, I'm guessing her father is the one that made the decision. You have to remember that in many cultures, love has really nothing to do with marriage, at least not at first.



As am I...I'm pretty sure the oldest people in the world live to be 114, usually (not the world record, but how old the current "oldest people" live). Thing about his age is that I seriously doubt that birth records were that accurate back then. But who knows/



One thing I found creepy is that he says he "waited for to grow up" before proposing...meaning he's had his eyes on her for a while now...

I know where Im moving

Depending on the particular version of Islam you ascribe to, "underage" might not be found until you get below age 9 or 10. Somalia is dominated by Islam in many areas, which invariably results in laws falling into line with Islamic law.

But it does give you some hope as a man. Work hard and save up, guys, and one day you too can purchase your own teenager.

17 isn't underage in a country with no laws, technically.

And frankly, 17 isn't underage in most places to begin with. I don't see what's so disgusting about HER age.

I'm Hugh Hefner, and I approve this marriage

http://celebrities.ninemsn.com.au/img/blog...g101008_hef.jpg

tyler, seriously, link that picture. Some of us are at work.

LOL. To be fair...we really shouldn't be on CN forums...

One? I think most middle class Americans could go there and purchase at least 5. Especially when there's that "Buy 5 for the price of 4" sale on...

I think it's more an issue of the fact that at her age, she's less capable of making smart decisions for herself than someone in their 30s or 40s. If it were a 30 year old woman marrying this guy, I think people were just go 'ugh' and be done with it. But 17 is still a child. And while a 17 year old can often marry an adult, it's typically a marriage between people of similar ages. In this case, you've got this ancient meatbag throwing money at either her or her family so he can get into her pants. It's definitely pretty scummy.

She's not really my type. Think I could go to South Africa and purchase some teenage Charlize Theron lookalikes?

truth, but it's not really more scummy at 17 than at 18, hence the whole "underage" thing being a bit of a wrong direction for the discussion.

Inappropriate? I don't know if that is the correct question.

Silly idea? Yes, I would say that. Personally I would find it strange if I were to marry someone ten older than me. Maybe even 5....

I lol'd.

It's messed up IMO, but if they both want it, who are we to deny them?

Thing is, I think the age difference matters less as you get older. For example...when I was in high school, there was a guy in my class...probably 17 or 18 at the time...going out with a 13 or 14 year old. 4 year difference...very, very weird. I have some friends who are going out with guys ~4 years older than them, and it's still strange, but not as weird as the first example I gave. Now, imagine if you knew some one who is 40, and is married to a 44 year old. Doesn't seem weird at all.

It's definitely more of a big deal in the West, where school years are broken up in chunks of 4-5 years. Thus, it seems strange for a couple to be either at opposite ends of the education spectrum (first year secondary school and fourth year, first year university and final year...). However, after you leave school, you don't have that system to separate a couple into different stages of maturity...

EDIT:

My main concern is if the bride REALLY even had a say in this. Also, when this guys keels over in the next couple years (seriously...the oldest male ever only lived to ~116)..how's this girl going take care of herself and her kids (because you know they WILL have at least a couple youngins)? I'm guessing she'll be taken care of perhaps even by her step-grandkids who are probably twice her age...

As I always say, nobody says anything with Grampa is 85 and Grandma is 75, but when Johnny is 20 and Jill is 10, people start to talk.

a friend of mine always used to give the age rule as "half your age, plus seven"

so the guy in the OP can have fun sexytimes with some sixty three year olds.

Woohoo I can still get college booty! 20 year olds here i come.


I've heard that one before though, my take is, I don't care how old if we actually have a connection and I can stand you. Major reason I stopped dating 18 and 19 year olds last year, they annoyed the crap out of me.

But I'm not going to use age as a line, if someone 18 wows me i'd consider it.

So the lowest I can go is 18? Awesome!

Meanwhile, this guy should be going after 63 year olds...but he's aiming for someone 3x younger than that?!