A man with a sword cut off the hands of a government social worker in central India for trying to stop child marriages, officials said Wednesday. The attack on the woman highlighted the difficulty of ending the centuries-old practice in the region. Shakuntala Verma, a supervisor with the Department of Women and Child Development in Madhya Pradesh state, was attacked Tuesday night in Bhangarh village, Superintendent of Police H. L. Borana was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India. Wednesday marked a Hindu festival in which hundreds of minors are married off. No arrests have been made in the attack in Bhangargh, 170 west of the state capital, Bhopal.Child marriage is illegal in India, but the ancient practice is still prevalent in some rural pockets of Madhya Pradesh. However, the number of marriages was down this year as a result of tough measures taken by police, the New Delhi Television News channel reported. Verma had been protesting child marriages in the area, officials said.