Sierra Leone child marriage: Landmark first trial since ban begins in Freetown - BBC News

It relates to a 17-year-old girl - four men including her father and husband face years in jail if convicted.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Eighteen is now the minimum age to wed but cases of forced marriages of underage girls persist

For the first time since child marriage was banned in Sierra Leone two years ago, people accused of committing the crime have been brought to trial.

Four men appeared at a High Court on Friday in the capital city, Freetown, charged with the forcible marriage of a 17-year-old girl.

Among the accused are the girl's father and her so-called husband. The BBC is not naming them to protect the child's identity.

All four men pleaded guilty - but because the alleged groom claimed he had obtained consent from the child's mother for the marriage, relying on the outdated customary marriage act, his plea was re-classed by the prosecutor as "not guilty".