Nine-year-old boy weds 62-year-old woman

A Nine-year-old boy has tied the knot with a 62-year-old woman in Ximhungwe village, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The wedding ceremony was witnessed by a crowd of about 200 guests.

The boy, Saneie Masilela and the woman, Helen Shabangu were seen dancing and holding hands.

The wedding ceremony saw guests celebrating with pieces of cake – took place in front of the home of Helen’s long-term husband, Alfred Shabangu, 66.

Alfred said, “My kids and I are happy because we don’t have a problem with her marrying the boy – and I don’t care what other people say.”

The boy – the youngest of five children – said he did the marriage to make it ‘official’, but villagers in Ximhungwe described the union as “sickening”.

The bride, Helen, a mother of five children, aged between 28 and 38-years-old say, “I’m very happy that the boy chose me and my family support and understand that it is part of making ancestors happy.

“One day Sanele would grow normally and have family of his own and get married one day, all this ceremony is for making ancestors happy. We are playing,” the woman said.

The young groom said he still hoped he would have a proper wedding to a woman his own age when he was older.

His words: “I told my mother that I wanted to get married because I really did want to.

“I’m happy that I married Helen. But I will go to school and study hard.

“When I’m older I will marry a lady my own age. I chose Helen because I love her and, although we don’t live together all the time, we meet at the dumping site where my mother works regularly.”

Both families claim the wedding is simply another ‘ritual’ after Saneie was told by his dead ancestors to wed and his parents forked out £500 for the bride and another £1,000 for the ceremony.

Sanele’s 47-year-old mum, Patience Masilela said: “Sanele is fine and he’s happy about the ceremony and it’s what he wanted – he’s not shy.

“He is just happy to get married, very excited and was not embarrassed about it. So much so he wanted to do it again.

“After the wedding people kept asking them question like will they live together, sleep together, have babies but I kept telling them that after the wedding everything went back to normal – nothing changed,” she said.

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