Someone mentioned the husband taking care of his child bride, but what happens to her when he dies? She becomes a widow with no prospects. Noone wants to marry a woman there who has been "used." Being a child bride is an example of people being treated as property, and when the woman finally outlives her husband, she will be left as an outcast. I do not think respect is an issue. I can understand how something has come to be through custom but that does not mean I have to condone it, just as people in the US are arguing against transporting a cab passenger carrying alcohol.

Someone mentioned the husband taking care of his child bride, but what happens to her when he dies? She becomes a widow with no prospects. Noone wants to marry a woman there who has been "used." Being a child bride is an example of people being treated as property, and when the woman finally outlives her husband, she will be left as an outcast.