World | Saudi Arabia Saudi Court Blocks Marriage to 8-Year-Old Girl Mother wins appeal against daughter's arranged marriage By Rob Quinn Posted Mar 25, 2009 4:08 AM CDT Copied Member of the Saudi Shura "consultative" council welcome King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, center, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, yesterday. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) A Saudi Arabian appeals court has thrown out a ruling upholding an 8-year-old girl's marriage to a 47-year-old man, reports CNN. The marriage—arranged by the girl's father to settle a debt—still stands for now under Saudi law. But the ruling sustains a legal challenge to the marriage by the girl's mother, and the case must be reviewed again by the lower court. "I feel this is the first real achievement we've had since we started," said the founder of a Saudi women's rights group. The ultimate goal of the group is a law requiring girls to be at least 17 and boys 18 before they can marry. “When that happens, we will really celebrate," she said. Read These Next A Minnesota gubernatorial candidate's daughter has been killed. FBI images show masked man at Nancy Guthrie's front door. Police raided a 'bikini cafe' and arrested 17. Talent agency exec gets hit over flirty emails with Ghislaine Maxwell. Report an error