Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2022 captures lovers sharing a tender moment at a Marriage Registration Office on the special "Twosday" in Changchun City, north China's Jilin Province. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Yao)

 

Police in Southwest China's Sichuan Province are investigating a case involving 16-year-old girl who ran away from a marriage after her parents promised her to a man offering a betrothal gift. 

The young girl, referred as Xiaoku, reached out to police at a highway service area for help after pretending to need the bathroom, when her so-called fiancé attempted to forcibly drive her away from her place of work to his hometown. 

"My parents sold me to the man," Xiaoku told the police. Xiaoku was working in South China's Guangdong, trying to escape an arranged marriage set up by her parents who received a total of 260,000 yuan ($37,701) as a betrothal gift. 

Follwoing the efforts of the police, local civil affairs department and local women's federation, Xiaoku was sent to local juvenile protection center in Tiandong county. Later, after discussions with Xiaoku's parents and family members and psychological assistance to Xiaoku, the girl returned to their home with her parents. 

The police said they will follow up the case and further investigate the incident. 

China's Civil Code clearly prohibits arranged marriage or other behaviors of interfering other's marriage. The behaviors of the man is also believed to be construed as interfering others' freedom of marriage, Wan Miaomiao a Sichuan-based lawyer told Chinese media, citing Criminal Law.

The behavior of Xiaoku's parents cannot constitute of crime but should return the betrothal gift and not force the girl to marriage, Wan noted. 

The case reflects legal knowledge in some rural areas is still not well understood, especially in ethnic minority areas, Wan said, calling for more  public education relating to marriage and the damage that early marriage may cause among those regions.

Global Times