Child Bride Jailed For Escaping Arranged Marriage In Mexico

A teenage girl in the southern Mexican region of Guerrero was jailed after running away to escape an arranged marriage late last month.

The girl, identified as 15-year-old Anayeli, was being forced to marry a boy one year older than her on Nov. 22 after her relatives agreed to receive a payment of 200,000 pesos (around $9,400) from the family of the teen's would-be husband for the arranged union, Mexican newspaper El Universal reported.

Parties were held by the boy's family on the two days leading up to the wedding. A cow was killed, drinks were served and a band was hired to provide entertainment, a report by Mexico News Daily said.

Prior to the wedding, however, Anayeli left her home in the Joya Real community of the Cochoapa el Grande municipality and proceeded to hide in the home of a friend, Alfredo "N," also 15.

"She thought it was her older sister who was going to be married. She never thought it would be her, because she was a minor," Abel Barrera, director of the Guerrero-based Tlachinollan Human Rights Center (CDHM), told the Daily Beast.

After finding out that she was the intended bride, Anayeli, who is a member of the indigenous Mixtec people, "preferred to flee without notifying anyone, regardless of the fact that her mother had already agreed [on the price] and the expenses paid by the groom’s father," Barrera said.

"None of that interested the girl. She simply wanted to preserve her freedom, her life and her safety," the director explained.

The teen's disappearance prompted her family and her would-be husband's relatives to approach the community police for assistance. Officers were able to find Anayeli and locked her as well as Alfredo in cells.

The would-be husband's family demanded that Anayeli abide by the arranged marriage. Additionally, she was told to pay back the $2,600 spent by the boy's family on the pre-marriage events as she had "offended" them, according to El Universal.

An anonymous caller later contacted the CDHM and reported that Anayeli was jailed at the Joya Real police station for refusing to get married.

Personnel from the human rights organization and the Guerrero Attorney General's Office arrived at the Joya Real police station Tuesday with state police and secured the release of Anayeli and Alfredo.

The two were then placed in the custody of the National System for Integral Family Development government agency.

The state of Guerrero is reportedly investigating the case. The community police, local police chief and the parents of both parties could face charges in connection to Anayeli's arrest and arranged marriage.

Anayeli's family did not receive the agreed payment as the wedding did not materialize, the report said.

Arranged marriages for minors are technically illegal under Mexican law, but they are still common among families living in rural regions, according to Barrera.

A girl bought in one of these marriages would be "treated as an object" by the family who paid for them and would have to cook the food, do the cleaning and work the fields, among other tasks, the CDHM director said.