A 92-year-old man has been barred from marrying a 17-year-old Egyptian girl.

Even though the parents of the girl accepted the offer of the 92-year-old Arab man from a Gulf state, the ministry of justice stopped the marriage from taking place on the grounds of a law that prohibits marriages between people with age spans of 25 years or more.

The law was enacted in Egypt to prevent wealth Arabs from marrying young girls from poor families who were willing to exchange their daughter's hand in marriage for substantial dowries.

In this case, the man offered the girl's family about $30,000 and gold jewelry.

While the law exists that prevents such marriages, Egypt's Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that last year 173 marriages were allowed between people with 25-year age spans. In those cases, the grooms deposited about $8,000 into the Egyptian National Bank, and underwent a screening process.