Hundreds of people have attended a wedding in central Somalia between a man who says he is 112 years old, and his teenage wife.

Ahmed Muhamed Dore - who already has 13 children by five wives - said he would like to have more with his new wife, Safia Abdulleh, who is 17 years old.

"Today God helped me realise my dream," Mr Dore said, after the wedding in the region of Galguduud.

The bride's family said she was "happy with her new husband".

Mr Dore said he and his bride - who is young enough to be his great-great-grand-daughter - were from the same village in Somalia and that he had waited for her to grow up to propose.

"I didn't force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love; and then we agreed to marry," the groom said.

Goat-skin documents

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says the marriage, in the town of Guriceel, is being described by Somali historians as the first of its kind in the Horn of Africa nation for more than a century.


Our reporter says reaction to news of the marriage has been mixed.

Some people said while it was allowed under Islamic law, they were concerned about the age gap, but others were happy that age was not a barrier to love.

Mr Dore told the BBC he was born in Dhusamareeb in central Somalia in 1897 - and has a traditional birth certificate, written on goat skin by his father.

Our correspondent says he has an interesting history - in 1941 he joined the British colonial forces as a soldier for 10 years and then served as a police officer after Somalia won independence in 1960.

Altogether, Mr Dore has 114 children and grandchildren. His oldest son is 80 years old and three of his wives have died.

He says he hopes his new bride will give him more children.

"It is a blessing to have someone you love to take care of you," he said

Ughh. Disgusting.



And of course she's happy. The old guy's gonna pass away soon and she'll be left with something in his will, or some of his property. . .

Another mad man has kidnapped an infant. May he die of heart-attack during night operation.

Pictures! i need proof

I bet he can't get it up.

Pictures! i need proof

Which picture, you wan snatch the man?

112-17=?

AceJam:

Which picture, you wan snatch the man?

i wan see if that side still dey kampe

Why is this in the politics section? Should be in romance

Wonders will never end. So the family of the little girl gave out their daughter to a man who can best be described as her great great great great grandpa? And the little girl is happy getting married. God forbid. There must be more to this. The oldie must have given the family & the girl some monetary reward to succeed so easily. But even at that, I weep for this family & more especially for the little girl. She must be the very dull type to assent to that type of arrangement. How much longer does the epa have to live? He wants her to have children & what happens when he dies? God have mercy.

Whoaaaa. . . .seriously? Just plain sad

Honestly, i think his family got tired of the old thing and saw the girl as the only legal means to murder the 'fossil'. No pun intended

Looks like the man is a romantic!  See the pose sef! I wish them happiness - She looks a bit happy already - and hope that there has been no coercion!

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qblaze:

I bet he can't get it up.

Viagra. . .the little blue wonder.

poor girl

OAM4J:

poor girl

She might end up "rich girl" once the old man dies

I just threw up in my mouth, the poor girl will be impregnated by her four fathers. How can her parents let this nastiness happen? Based on the picture the girl is so miserable.

eku_bear:

She might end up "rich girl" once the old man dies

most unlikely because she has people older than her grandfather to compete with.

uh argh!!! poor girl learn how to use cyanide as delicacy or you will die with accumulation of expired expired sperm. utter disgusting!!!

uh argh!!! poor girl learn how to use cyanide as delicacy or you will die with accumulation of expired expired spermatozoa. utter disgusting!!!

I doubt that man even has spermatozoa left in his scrotum. He looks too plasmolized, flabbied and famished for any eroticity.

There is something morally wrong about this marriage.

jamace:

I doubt that man even has spermatozoa left in his scrotum. He looks too plasmolized, flabbied and famished for any eroticity.

all this grammar? hope you dont get banned for excessive Grammatology

all this grammar? hope you dont get banned for excessive Grammatology

True o. I just came out of Seun's Kirikiri(spambot) this morning, after about 8 days there.

That dead wood is annoying. I don't know what that girl sees in him o. Abi the man jazzz am? Or could this be the original version of "Love is blind"?

Islam again

jamace:

True o. I just came out of Seun's Kirikiri(spambot) this morning, after about 8 days there.

That dead wood is annoying. I don't know what that girl sees in him o. Abi the man jazzz am? Or could this be the original version of "Love is blind"?

I think it is the original version of forced marriage. Her parents probably gave her to him to pay off some death. Its funny how this fore father claimed he "used experience" yet the girl isn't even allowed to give her side of the story.

I think it is the original version of forced marriage. Her parents probably gave her to him to pay off some death. Its funny how this fore father claimed he "used experience" yet the girl isn't even allowed to give her side of the story.

You may be right that the girl is just a sacrificial lamb for debt payment. Otherwise, I don't think that girl with her korokoro eyes will accept that papay.