According to a Monday post by the local justice bureau, the teenager called the police in Zhongning County, Ningxia area during the wedding on November 24, saying she was being forced into an illicit marriage against her will.
The post on social media platform WeChat described the local police’s “quick and clever” response in a positive light, but has since been removed following an online controversy.
The post said police and other local officials reached the home of the groom’s family, nicknamed Lee, and stopped the ceremony.
Police said the parents of the teenager – who had reportedly already bought gold ornaments with money – returned the dowry to the groom’s family after arbitration talks.
The girl was also sent to her parents, whose names have not been taken by the police.
Chinese law forbids a parent or guardian of any person under the age of 18 from “allowing or forcing minors to marry or engage in minors”.
In China’s feudal past it was customary to marry at an early age, and even today, teenage brides and grooms are not heard of in poor and rural areas, such as Ningxia.
But the incident has shocked the townspeople, who criticized the girl’s parents for allegedly forcing the marriage, saying they should be punished.
The study authors said that while higher levels of education reduce the risk of premature birth for girls, the education gap between rural and urban areas has not improved much over the past decades.
Many rural parents are eager for their children to work in factory towns before tying the knot – a common fate for many. This is especially true for sons who may struggle to find a mate because of China’s sex ratio imbalance – worsened by the former one-child policy and the traditional preference for sons – which has particularly affected rural areas. has done.
According to the latest government figures, there are about 35 million more men in China than women.
Additional reporting by CNN’s Katie Hunt.
,