This was practiced in India in the early days. But, new laws now forbid child marriage. Although, I strongly suspect that the trend is still being followed in some rural villages in parts of the country. It was done primarily to tie the girl down to a boy so that she would not "stray" the moment she became of "age" to do so! maybe, the parents saw it as a way to "protect" the girl child also! (hardly ever did though),Most of the times the girl was married of to men triple their age! This was the cause of so many Indian girls becoming "widows" at an early age and then suffering the torment, torture and harassment of the society and inlaws for the rest of her life. As is the case usually, these women were not allowed to remarry! It was unheard of! However, in contrast, a man could marry any number of times he wanted and even had more than two wives at times, although the Hindu marriage act allows only one legal wife at a time! In Rajasthan, these same "widows" were forced to jump into the burning pyre of their dead husbands as a form of sacrifice! They called her a "Sati" Which translates to sacrifice.