Police intervened to stop a child marriage involving a Chinese national and a Nepali girl belonging to the Muslim community in Bara district.

The arrest took place around midnight Wednesday at Haraiya in ward 1 of Karaiyamai Rural Municipality, where the groom, bride and the bride’s father were taken into custody. They were detained while preparing for the wedding.

“They were detained and brought to the district police office in Kalaiya for further investigation,” said Superintendent of Police Narendra Kunwar. Police did not divulge the names of the detainees. “We are conducting a thorough investigation to determine whether this is a case of child marriage and what the motive was,” said Kunwar, adding that the Chinese citizen possessed valid passport and visa documents.

According to preliminary police investigations, the bride and groom were intercepted in the village at midnight. “We had received reports over the past few years that some Muslim women of this area had been marrying Chinese nationals—so we are probing this matter very carefully,” Kunwar said.

Local residents say such marriages—especially to Chinese nationals—are a new phenomenon in the region. One community member claimed that brokers often lure women with economic incentives. Authorities report that there have already been three such marriages between local women and Chinese men in that village within the past year.

The three detained persons include the bride’s father, the Chinese citizen, and the under-aged bride. Local leaders reportedly visited police to request their release. According to ward chair Sonalal Sah, the Chinese man had come to the girl’s house to marry her. According to Sah, it would be a child marriage as the girl is only 18.

“This type of marriage is new and shocking for our community,” Sah said, suggesting the connection was arranged through relatives living in Kathmandu.

The Civil Code 2017 states that the minimum age for marriage—for both women and men—in Nepal is 20. Though the country abolished child marriage in 1963, the social practice is still rampant in rural areas despite various attempts of the government authorities and social organisations to end the practice.