El-Maasara village, in the north west of Dakahlia governorate, celebrated long into the night following the wedding ceremony of a 12-year-old boy and his ten-year-old bride this weekend.
The marriage of Fares al-Saaed, a preparatory school student, to Nancy, still at primary school, was held in the middle of a village street. Dubbed by villagers the "youngest bride and groom in the world,” the couple were fêted lavishly with performances from a music band and three belly dancers on a large stage.
The families of the two minors signed unofficial papers as a record of the marriage, which will remain unrecognized by the law, Rabea Ahmed, a villager, told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Guests at the mock wedding said the bride wore pink instead of the traditional white dress to avoid complaints to authorities about the ceremony.
According to local Adel al-Saaed, weddings of this kind are common in the village, but it is unprecedented at quite so young an age.
Mahmoud Shabana, a lawyer from the governorate, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that this wedding is illegal, and any infants born of the marriage cannot be recognized officially.