( CNN ) -- A court in Saudi Arabia has granted an 8-year-old girl a divorce from her 47-year-old husband , after twice denying the divorce request previously , local media reported Thursday . The marriage sparked condemnations around the world from human rights groups and U.S. and other government officials when it first came to light in December . Local media , which is highly regulated by the Saudi government , reported that the court in the city of Onaiza approved the divorce decree Thursday , and the divorce is final . A source at the court told the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan that the divorce `` came after a series of pleas made by a number of officials in the region to the husband . '' CNN efforts to reach court officials , the husband and the girl 's father have been unsuccessful . According to the attorney for the young girl 's mother , the father of the girl had arranged the marriage between his daughter and a close friend of his to settle his debts with the man . When the mother went to court to try to get the marriage annulled , Saudi judge Habib al-Habib rejected the request on a legal technicality . The judge ruled that the mother -- who is separated from the girl 's father -- was not the child 's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court , according to the mother 's lawyer , Abdullah al-Jutaili . However , the judge required the girl 's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty , al-Jutaili said . The lawyer said in the original marriage agreement , the father of the girl stipulated that the marriage would not be consummated until she was 18 . The judge also ruled that the girl could file a petition for a divorce when she reached puberty , al-Jutaili said . The young girl lives with her mother , the attorney said , and was never told that she was married . When the initial petition to annul the marriage was rejected , the mother appealed the verdict to an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh . The appeals court declined to certify the original ruling , in essence rejecting al-Habib 's verdict , and sent the case back to him for reconsideration . Under the complicated Saudi legal process , the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect but that a challenge to the marriage was ongoing . Earlier this month , the original judge refused for a second time to annul the marriage . Soon after that decision , Saudi Arabia 's justice minister told Al-Watan that he planned to enact a law that will protect young girls from such marriages . The law will place restrictions on the practice to preserve the rights of children and prevent abuses , Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Issa was quoted as saying . Additionally , al-Issa said there would be a study of a system that will include regulations for the marriage of minors and everything related to such unions , the newspaper reported . No details on the restrictions or regulations were mentioned . The minister did not say whether child marriage would be abolished . Responding to the justice minister 's comments and the possibility of a new child marriage law , al-Jutaili told CNN at the time , `` this is what we requested from day one , and we know that Saudi officials are working so hard on resolving this issue . '' Al-Jutaili believes that such a law would help not only his defendant but many other Saudi minors facing a similar problem . In Washington Monday , Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns called the marriage a human rights abuse . `` Child marriage is , unfortunately , still common in much of Saudi Arabia and we have voiced our concern about this practice at the highest levels , '' he told a conference on U.S.-Saudi relations . `` We were encouraged by reports that the Justice Ministry had begun to review the legal age of marriage . '' After the divorce was denied for a second time , the head of the United Nations Children 's Fund issued a statement expressing concern about the case . UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said , `` the right to free and full consent to marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . Consent can not be free and full when either party to a marriage is too young to make an informed decision . '' The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative Saudi kingdom recently . While rights groups have petitioned the government for laws to protect children from such marriages , the kingdom 's top cleric has said that it 's OK for girls as young as 10 to wed. `` It is incorrect to say that it 's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger , '' Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh , the kingdom 's grand mufti , said in January , according to the regional Al-Hayat newspaper . `` A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married . Those who think she 's too young are wrong , and they are being unfair to her . '' Al-Sheikh reportedly made the remarks when he was asked during a lecture about parents forcing their underage daughters to marry . `` We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls , '' he said , according to the newspaper . `` We should know that sharia law has not brought injustice to women . '' Sharia law is Islamic law , and Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism .
Child bride wins divorce hearing at third attempt , local media reports . Her case attracted attention of the U.N. and governments around the world . Score: 7 Saudi justice minister says he plans law to protect young girls from such marriages .