Underage marriage of China couple sparks intervention by local officials who reject validity of nuptials
- Extremely young couple’s nuptials viewed 8.5 million times on Douyin
- Legal marriage age in China is 22 for men, 20 for women
A wedding ceremony in China in which the bride and the groom were under 15 years old trended on mainland social media before authorities intervened to stop the underage marriage.
The nuptials were held on March 23 in a village in Xintai county in the eastern province of Shandong.
The groom was a student at a secondary school, aged about 14-15 years old, and his bride was even younger, the news outlet, Shijian Video reported.
In China, the legal age for marriage is 22 for men and 20 for women. The Juveniles Protection Law forbids parents to allow, force or arrange marriages for their underage children.
The teenagers got to know each other in September last year.
Both sets of parents, who are thought to be unaware of the law, approved the marriage in March and held a wedding according to local customs, the report said.
“They are both juveniles. Their parents got together to attend a feast to mark their marriage,” a local government official said.
“Public security, civil affairs and education departments all paid attention to this case, criticising and educating their parents and ordering the girl to return home.
“We urge these parents to fulfil their guardianship duties and we will provide psychological guidance for the two minors as a next-step measure,” the official said.
This underage couple’s nuptials became an online sensation, and were viewed 8.5 million times on Douyin alone.
“Does the groom break the law if his bride is below 14 years old and they have sex?” one online observer asked.
China’s Criminal Law stipulates that anyone having sex with a girl under 14 years old, with or without her consent, will be charged with rape.
“Why does the government outlaw their marriage? They like each other and their marriage does no harm to others. After all, in ancient China, people usually got married at around 15 and that practice did not cause big trouble for society,” another person said.
The legal marriage age has varied throughout China’s history from 12 to 20.
In some dynastic periods, governors told citizens to marry early and punished those who married late. The idea was to create a big population and also because people died young.
In recent years, families allowing their teenage children to marry have captivated mainland social media.
An 18-year-old boy married a 13-year-old girl in a village in southeastern China’s Guangdong province in 2021 but they did not register their marriage with the local civil affairs authority.
