Child bride, 13, writes desperate letter to her teacher begging her to stop wedding

Duli Hembrom wrote to the principal of Milan Mithi Uchha Vidyalaya after failing to convince her parents to call off the wedding, which is due to take place in two days. 

She wrote: 'I do not want to get married, I took an oath at the time of admission that I will not get married before I turn 18.'

She added that she wanted the teacher to stop the marriage 'whichever way possible', the India Times reported.

It is thought the 'oath' Duli refers to is the school's promise she had to make when she started, but exactly what it included is not known.

Her father Lachhu, who lives in Gudibanda with Duli's mother, said child marriage was a common phenomenon in their society. 

He told the Hindustan Times that it was difficult to find a suitable match for a grown-up girl. 

The Child Marriage Restraint Act, passed in India during British rule in 1929, specified that a girl must be 18 and a boy 21 before they can wed. 

But the country has the second highest number of child marriages, according to a UN report.

Nearly 52 per cent of girls are married before reaching 18 years old, Indian records show. 

Between 2011 and 2020 more than 140 million girls will become child brides globally, analysts estimate.

Aarati Benera, a women’s rights activist, described child marriage as 'illegal and a social evil'.

(dailymail.co.uk)