The British government on Thursday expressed serious concern over the growing incidence of forced marriages involving young people with origins in the Indian sub-continent.
In the latest case, as many as 23 girls are missing from schools in Bradford despite considerable efforts to track them down, authorities say.
The Foreign Office has set up a dedicated unit to help young victims, who are lured by family members to travel to the sub-continent and then forced into marriages there.
The unit mounts several 'rescue operations' in the Indian sub-continent to help British Asian victims.
Official sources told PTI that over 500 cases of forced marriages are reported every year, but the unofficial