Yemeni girl video reaches millions

A video of an 11-year-old Yemeni girl who ran away from home to avoid a forced marriage has gone viral on YouTube, and reached over 8 million views.

In the video, a nearly three-minute heartbreaking testimonial, the eerily mature Nada Al-Ahdal says she would prefer death over going home.

“I would have no life, no education. Don’t they have any compassion?” the girl asks into the camera. The video, provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, is shot in a moving car.

“I’m better off dead. I’d rather die,” says Al-Ahdal.

She says her aunt was forced into a marriage at the age of 14, and that she lasted one year before setting herself on fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7_TKgw1To

In the clip, first posted on July 8, Al-Ahdal says she wants to go live with her uncle and that she has filed a complaint with the police against her mother.

“My family, believe me when I say: I’m done with you. You’ve ruined my dreams,” she says.