A five-year-old girl is the youngest victim of child marriage among the 400 children who received assistance from the government's Forced Marriage Unit in Britain in 2011.

Child marriages are prevalent among many immigrant communities in Britain and the unnamed girl is the latest victim of the social evil.

"The youngest of these was actually five years old, so there are children involved in the practice across the school age range," the BBC has quoted Amy Cumming, joint head of the Forced Marriage Unit, as saying.

In October 2011, David Cameron termed the practice as modern day slavery and stressed the need to prevent it.

The Prime Minster wanted to make the system a criminal offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and ordered a public consultation on the Forced Marriage Protection Order of 2008.

The public consultation was over and the outcome is expected to be released in coming months.

Child marriages are prevalent in communities from several countries particularly in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Many cases were left unnoticed as the victims prefer not to lodge complaint with the law enforcement authorities because of cultural concerns.

Take a look at some of the instances of child marriages in India and Pakistan:

Child Marriage
Boys and girls from the Saraniya community wearing garlands pose for pictures after their engagement ceremony at Vadia village in the western Indian state of Gujarat March 11, 2012. Reuters
Child Marriage
Boys from the Saraniya community wearing turbans sit next to their sisters before the start of their engagement ceremony at Vadia village. Reuters
Child Marriage
A veiled girl from the Saraniya community waits for her engagement ceremony to start at Vadia village. Reuters
Child Marriage
Seven-year-old groom Mohammad Waseem (R) and his four-year-old bride Nisha (L) are escorted by security officials at a police station in Karachi October 31, 2008. Reuters
Child Marriage
Child bride Krishna (R), 12, laughs with her husband Kishan Gopal, 14, at her house in a village near Baran, located in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, July 30 , 2011. Reuters
Child Marriage
Hemant (R), 16, sits with his 13-year-old newly wed wife Saraswati in a mass marriage outside his village near Kota in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, May 17, 2010. Reuters
Pakistan India