Dhaka, July 16 -- The child marriage rate continues to rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warn, as the latest UN data shows that more than half of Bangladeshi women are married before reaching adulthood - the highest percentage in the whole South Asia.

Bangladesh has long had one of the world's highest rates of child marriage and, unlike other countries in the region, for the past few years has seen the situation worsening.

According to the annual report of the UN Population Fund released last month, 51 percent of Bangladeshi girls are found to have been married before turning 18 - the legal age for marriage.The rate was significantly lower, at 29 percent in nearby Afghanistan, 23 percent in India, and 18 percent in Pakistan.

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