Married at 12: a young girl married a 63-year-old man (PHOTOS).

According to locals, this ritual is an ancient tradition.

Priest Gborbu Vulomo from the Republic of Ghana, located in West Africa, married a 12-year-old girl, Naa Okromo, with whom he has an age difference of 51 years. The child's fate was chosen when she was 6.

According to it, the priest must marry a virgin, of which there are not so many in Ghana. According to locals The Daily Star, there are currently no such girls older than nine in Nungua.

Sacred chose the bride when she was very young. Marriage was only the first stage of the rite. The girl is to take part in a second traditional ceremony that will purify her.

"This rite of passage will enable her to fulfill all the responsibilities expected of her as the wife of Gborbu Vulomo, including the crucial role of having children," local media outlet Ablade TV Online reported .

However, after the public was outraged by such "shenanigans", the temple of Gborbu Vulomo found an excuse in its defense:

"She's still in school, she doesn't live with Gborbu Vulomo. We started a traditional marriage with Naa Okromo (12 years old) to turn other men away. When she grows up, we will have the last rites."

It turned out that this tradition existed more than 300 years ago, but for some reason they decided to bring it back again. A spokesman for the Nia Bortei Temple, Kofi Frankwa II, said:

"Naa Yomo Ayemuade is a reincarnated woman who lived more than 300 years ago and returned to make sure that the sacred rituals of one of the deities, which had not been performed for years, could be performed."