Death of a 15-year-old girl while giving birth exposes dark practice of child marriage in Zimbabwe

Her son and the babies of other teenage mothers play together in the dirt while the mothers wait for their instructor. They speak in low tones about the circumstances that led to the CNN has been unable to reach his lawyers.Her death has sparked an outcry in Zimbabwe. A petition against child marriage has garnered thousands of signatures, and many campaigners hope her case will expose the practice of child marriage which is outlawed in the country but has continued, despite the threat of legal action. According to the campaign group, Marange added that the church cooperated with police and church members helped in finding Momberume when he allegedly went into hiding following her death. Parents rarely report cases of abuse to the police for fear of “embarrassing” the church, according to “We haven’t had an update yet, but in rural parts of Zimbabwe, the pregnancies are not going down as expected. We are still compiling the data, and hopefully, we can see the scale. Men should stop this behavior,” she said. She also called on authorities to take action against churches abusing teen girls. “We are saying all those churches abusing children should be brought to book. We want all those churches which start things in the name of God to be responsible and not abuse children,” Nyoni told CNN. A life of pain and penury Early marriage and a lack of qualifications often condemn young girls to a life of pain and penury.Faith told CNN her parents forced her to marry a 26-year-old man after dropping out of school at 15. She says she’s lost all hope of ever going back to school. Faith’s husband works at a gold mine and the couple often do not see each other for weeks. What they both earn from their low-paid jobs can barely sustain the family. “I survive by doing menial jobs. It is hard to get soap to wash my child’s clothes. This is a tough life,” she sighed. Spiwe 17, is a friend of Faith’s. She told CNN she got married at 15 after her parents divorced. Arimuzhu makes less than $2 a day doing laundry and other house chores for the city’s middle-class workers. She says her 9-month-old son often goes hungry. “Life is just difficult,” she said. Rutendo looks on soberly as Arimuzhu narrates her story. She is worried and pensive. The 16-year-old is pregnant and says she’s yet to register for ante-natal care at the local clinic. The teenager says her husband works at a gold mine, and their combined wages are not enough to keep them afloat. Mungai says her husband often beats her when they argue over the family’s meager finances. “Whenever I complain of hunger, he gets angry,” she said her voice cracking. “There is no peace in the home.”