THE SUN: DRESSED in a fancy new outfit, little Samina Shah thought she was getting ready for her birthday party.
Instead she was being married off — having just turned FIVE.
The Islamic ceremony effectively ended her childhood and paved the way for years of abuse.
Just as shockingly, this was not happening in a remote Third World village — but in a large town in the north of England.
Samina has decided to speak out after Britain’s Forced Marriage Unit revealed that last year the 1,468 cases they investigated included another girl of five.
There are thought to be another 6,500 cases that went unreported.
Samina — not her real name as she is too scared to be identified — told The Sun: “I was denied the right of childhood, play and innocence.
“When you are married at the age of five you no longer live like a normal child. I was deprived of my basic human rights. » | Anila Baig | Exclusive | Sunday, April 08, 2012
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: I was forced to marry at five » | Rebecca Seales | Sunday, April 08, 2012
