Virus despair forces girls across Asia into child marriage

Caption This picture taken on July 25, 2020 shows 18-year-old Lia and her 21-year-old husband Randi (not their real names) asking for their parents' blessing after getting married in the village of Tampapadang in Mamuju, West Sulawesi. - AFP

NEW DELHI (AFP): Tens of thousands of girls across Asia are being forced into marriage by desperate families plunged into poverty because of the coronavirus pandemic, as campaigners warn years of progress tackling the practice is being undone.

Child marriage has long been common in traditional communities from the Indonesian archipelago to India, Pakistan and Vietnam, but numbers had been decreasing as charities made inroads by encouraging access to education and women's health services.