A photographer opted for conscience over money at a wedding event where a 15-year-old was to be married.
A Turkish photographer Onur Albayrak has told of an incident that saw him beat up a man who invited him to take pictures at a wedding he was to have with a 15-year-old girl.
The ceremony was scheduled to hold on Thursday, July 5, 2018, at the Turgut Özal Nature Park in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya but Albayrak refused to get to work when he learned about the age of the bride.
He soon got into a physical confrontation with the groom who insisted that he must stick to an earlier agreement to provide his services.
Hurriyet Daily News confirmed this in a report. No amount of pressure can make the photographer feel guilty for his response he expressed in a Facebook post published two days after the brawl.
“Yes, the reports are correct. A child bride means child abuse, and no force in the world can make me photograph a child as a bride.
“The groom had come to my studio some two weeks ago and was alone.
"I saw the bride for the first time at the wedding. She’s a child, and I felt her fear because she was trembling.
"The groom attacked me as I was leaving,” Onur Albayrak strongly expressed.
This ended in a broken nose for the aggressor.
Social media hero
The photographer's action challenging a union between the little girl and a much older man has earned him accolades on social media.
Especially on Twitter, Onur Albayrak's popularity is reaching remote regions and it is not for his ability to take pictures.
In fact, it is because he refused to take any.
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Child marriage struggles for acceptance in Nigeria
The child bride pandemic appears to be an Africa-wide affair.
Some cultures in Nigeria are known for supporting unions between an older man and a child.
A civil Nigerian society however has no love for such a relationship.
The desire to have it removed introduced the #ChildNotBride campaign which saw public protests against the practice.
ALSO READ: 56-yr-old woman who got married at 53 gives birth to baby boy [Photos]
Part of the demands of the participants included ensuring that the Nigerian Senate make a law that will make it punishable to marry a girl who has not clocked the age of 18.
Domestic abuse generally encountered by women still thrives in Nigeria.
It tells the tale of a society which still sees the female gender as objects despite its claim of advancement.
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