Police prevent underage ultra-Orthodox wedding in Jerusalem; bride-to-be is 13

Authorities say girl had been reported missing by her father 2 months ago, may have been hidden by her mother; 6 detained in raid, including 4 minors

The Times of Israel/November 30, 2018

Police halted a wedding between two minors Thursday in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood.

Officers detained two women and four minors in a raid on the roof of a building in the neighborhood where the wedding was taking place.

Among those taken to a police station were the 13-year-old bride-to-be, who police said was reported missing by her father two months ago.

“The suspicion is that the mother hid [the daughter] until the date of the wedding,” police said in a statement Friday.

The mother is being questioned on suspicion of violating a legal order and other unspecified offenses. Police said their report was given to welfare officials.

Officers were working to determine the identities of the rest of the detainees.

Police did not provide the age of the prospective groom, but the Ynet news site reported he is 16. The legal age of marriage in Israel is 18.

It was not immediately clear what sect those involved in the wedding belonged to. A police photo showed those detained in the raid wearing burqas, a rare religious stricture in ultra-Orthodox Judaism often associated with the Lev Tahor cult.

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