Girl, 14, Reports Her Own Wedding To Cops After Parents Try To Sell Her For $40K

A family from northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region forced a 14-year-old girl into marrying a stranger, for nearly $40,000. The police busted the marriage after the teenager called the police to report her own wedding.

Authorities got involved and broke up the illegal alliance on the day of the ceremony.

The parents reportedly tried to force the minor into marriage with a man, surnamed Li, whose age was not disclosed, according to South China Morning Post. The groom’s family had paid $39,400 to the parents of the underage bride.

The teen girl never consented to the alliance and had not even met the groom prior to the wedding, according to a statement from the justice department in the city of Zhongwei. The girl managed to inform the police who arrived right in time to stop the ceremony from taking place.

The betrothal gift of nearly $40,000 from the groom’s side became the subject of quarrels between the two families after they were taken to the police station. Officials mediated six rounds of negotiations before it was decided that the bride’s family would return the money to Li.

The girl’s parents had already used the money to buy jewelry. They returned the money to the groom’s family and were allowed to take their daughter back home, the police said, according to CNN.

Following the incident, the local Justice Bureau published a post Monday on the Chinese social media platform called WeChat. The post revealed that the cops and local officials were “quick and clever” in response and stopped a 14-year-old girl from being forced into marriage on Nov. 24. However, the post was later deleted after the news sparked controversy. Many were shocked to hear of the incident and said the parents should be punished for having tried to sell their daughter into marriage.

In China, the legal age for men to marry is 22 while it is 20 for women. Parents or the guardian of anyone below the age of 18 are prohibited under Chinese law from allowing or forcing minors to marry. The state-run People's Daily also reported that the country’s laws allow individuals to marry without outside interference or coercion.

Despite having laws in place, news of child marriages continue to surface in China. In June 2020, a 17-year-old girl was saved from forcibly marrying a groom that she met only six times. The teenager from Maoming, in Guangdong province in south China, had contacted local authorities and informed them about her situation. Another incident involving a 13-year-old girl was reported to authorities a few months later. Both families said the girl was in a romantic relationship with the 17-year-old groom, and parents got them married so they could earn the blessings of being grandparents. The girl was sent back to school after marrying the 17-year-old boy.