13-year-old Indian girl, forced into arranged marriage, seeks help from school principal with touching letter

Begging for help, a 13-year-old girl from India wrote to her school principal after failing to convince her own parents not to have her married early. Identified as Duli Hembrom, the girl was reportedly arranged to get married by April 22, according to her heartbreaking letter. She also explained in her letter she wanted to complete her studies.

span style="line-height: 15.8599996566772px;">MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - "I took an oath at the time of admission that I will not get married before I turn 18. I do not wish to get married early," Duli wrote to her still unnamed principal, asking for an assistance in order to stop her parents from making her a child bride.

Currently a class nine at the Milan Mithi Uchha Vidyalaya, she cited the oath she made to the school administration, desperately seeking help to stop the marriage. However, her parents have reportedly issued a statement in Hindustan Times justifying their arrangement for the young daughter.

According to Lachhu Hembrom, Duli's father, the fixed marriage is done due to the difficulty of finding adult mates for women, thus their community is accepting the exercise of child marriages.

It is not known how her letter got out to the Internet but it is gaining attention. The unknown principal is working to help her, now with the attention of people anticipating whether the reported arrangement for Duli is going to happen.

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According to the Daily Mail, there are about 52 percent of girls under 18 in India married off, even if there's a law prohibiting such arrangements. The Child Marriage Restraint Act was enacted back in 1929, requiring that before marriage, the girls should be at least of 18 years old while the boys at 21. 

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