Excerpt from today's Straits Times: Their young love is going nowhere

Two childhood sweethears - aged six and seven- from Hanover in northern Germany eloped on New Year's Day, and were determined to tie the knot under the African sun, police said yesterday.

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The pair, identified as Mika and Anna-Lena, "are very much in love, and decided to get married in Africa, where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Anna Lena's younger sister, aged five..."

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As the first dawn of 2009 broke, the trio started to put plans into action, packing essentials for the journey, including "sunglasses, swimming trunks, a lilo, summer clothes and provisions".

While their parents slept, they left their house in the suburbs of Hanover, walked a kilometre to a tram stop and took a tram to the central station.

While waiting for a train to the airport, they aroused the attention of a guard, who contacted the police.

Two officers managed to convince the young lovers they would struggle to get to Africa without money or a plane ticket.

As a consolation, the children were given a special tour of the police headquarters at Hanover, where they were especially taken to the detention cells.

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