Rubie Marie grew up in Wales and was taken at 15 to Bangladesh to marry a man of 30. Her uncle had held a “bidding war” for her ANDREW FOX FOR THE TIMES

British teenagers are being forced to marry abroad and are raped and impregnated while the Home Office “turns a blind eye” by handing visas to their husbands, The Times has found.

Officials received dozens of reports last year that women wanted to block visas for men they had been made to marry in countries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates. In almost half of their cases the visas were approved, records show.

Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the home affairs select committee, said she would demand answers from the Home Office over the findings.

Experts believe that there are thousands of victims in Britain as the vast majority are too afraid to come forward. Charities and campaigners say that the findings confirm their…