Turkish Wedding Photographer Beats Up Groom for Marrying Child Bride

A wedding photographer in Turkey is being commended after beating up a man for marrying a child bride.

According to Hurriyet Daily News, Onur Albayrak was hired to take a newlywed couple's pictures at Turgut Ozal Nature Park on July 5.

However, when the groom told him the bride was only 15, Albayrak refused to continue the shoot.

"The groom had come to my studio some two weeks ago and was alone," Albayrak told the news website. "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 Albayrak as he attempted to leave, arguing that he was bound by contract to take the wedding pictures. Albayrak fought back and broke the groom's nose.

"I wish this had never happened, but it did," Albayrak wrote in a post on his Facebook page. "And if you were to ask me if I'd do the same thing again, I'd say 'yes.' Child brides are victims of child abuse, and no power on earth can make me photograph a child in a wedding gown."

While the minimum legal age for marriage in Turkey is 18, child marriage is still widespread.

According to the organization Girls Not Brides, Turkey has one the highest rates of marriage in Europe with an estimated 15% of girls married before the legal age.

However, the number could be higher because most child marriages go unreported.