Chinese authorities break up arranged child marriage after teenage daughter calls police to report her own wedding

The girl had been sold as a bride by her family for a 250,000 yuan (US$39,400) dowry

The legal age of marriage in China is high by global standards, but child marriage still exists in the country

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A teenager in China had to call the police to break up her own forced marriage. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:30pm, 9 Dec 2021Updated: 8:54am, 10 Dec 2021

A 14-year-old girl in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region was forced by her family to marry a stranger after her parents received a 250,000 yuan (US$39,400) betrothal gift from the groom’s family.

The teenager, surnamed Yang, called the police on the wedding day and authorities stepped in to cancel the illegal betrothal, according to a statement from the justice department in the city of Zhongwei.

In China, it is illegal for men younger than 22 to get married. For women, the age is 20. Yang would be entering grade eight of her nine-year compulsory education in China. The age of the groom, surnamed Li, was not made public.

The city of Zhongwei runs up against the desert in China. Photo: Feng Kaihua

Yang had never met the man, and the marriage had been organised without the girl’s consent, the government statement said.

The 250,000-yuan dowry would have been over eight times more than the average annual income for urban residents in the county.

After the wedding was broken up, members of both families were taken to the police station, where they reportedly quarrelled about how to handle the bride payment.

After six rounds of negotiations mediated by the officials, the Yang family was ordered to return home with their daughter and reimburse all of the dowry money to the Li family.