And Aisha had in fact also reached the age of puberty when their marriage was consummated. She was a woman not a child and certainly not eight years old!
And yes the government and the so called scholars must shoulder much blame for not disallowing such criminal acts taking place. To call this a marriage is itself a crime. For a marriage to be valid the girl must be of sound and mature mind and give her consent. What consent can a child of eight give?
What makes this case all the more painful to me is that this girl was the age of my daughter..very saddening indeed cos I know how innocent and trusting children of this age are!