A 13-year-old Ethiopian girl escaped forced marriage with a 39-year-old man after she ran away and complained to the police, an Ethiopian press agency reported on Friday. The girl was slated to marry the father of three on February 25, according to the Walta Information Centre, considered close to the Ethiopian authorities. Local police said the girl’s adoptive parents have agreed to cancel the wedding and that she is staying with an uncle. Another 13-year-old Ethiopian girl, from the northern part of the country, had last November complained to police that she was being forced into marriage. The wedding was cancelled after the girl explained she wanted to continue her studies. Ethiopian women have been increasingly vocal against forced marriage, a deep-seated tradition that is still widely practised despite new family legislation setting the legal age of marriage at 18. – AFP