The horror of non-Catholic customs: Yemeni child bride, eight, dies of internal injuries on first night of forced marriage to groom five times her age

MATT BLAKE dailymail.co.uk An eight-year-old child bride has died in Yemen of internal bleeding sustained during her wedding night after being forced to marry a man five times her age, activists have claimed. The girl, identified only as Rawan, died in the tribal area of Hardh in northwestern Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia. Activists are now calling for the groom, who is believed to be around 40 years old, and her family to be arrested so they can face justice in the courts. Rural: The girl, identified only as Rawan, died in the tribal area of Hardh in northwestern Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia They say arrests would help put a stop to the practice of marrying very young girls to older men in the impoverished region. Angry Man, a blogger, posted that the man was 'an animal who deserved to be punished severely for his crime'.  Child bride: The practice of marrying young girls is widespread in Yemen and has attracted the attention of international rights groups seeking to pressure the government to outlaw child marriages 'All those who supported such a crime should also be punished,' he added... Yemen once set 15 as the minimum age for marriage, but parliament annulled that law in the 1990s, saying parents should decide when a daughter marries.