A team of police and district child protection unit rescued a class 8 girl on Friday who was illegally married off by her grandmother to a 24-year-old man a day before, said police. The grandmother was later arrested. The incident took place in Bengaluru’s Sarjapur.
Police came into action after the mother of the 14-year-old girl filed a complaint at Sarjapur police station. She told police that on February 15, the girl’s paternal grandmother along with her son and daughter-in-law married off the minor without the knowledge or consent of the parents.
“My daughter is a minor and she was forcefully married off to Vinod Kumar of Halasinakaipura. The marriage was conducted at the Yallamma temple in Kaiwar in the presence of the girl’s grandmother, aunt, uncle, and the boy’s parents,” the girl’s mother stated in her complaint.
Based on the complaint, police said, they arrested the girl’s grandmother and booked eight people present at the occasion, including the groom, under Section 366 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Child Marriage Restriction Act. “The girl was married without her consent. She is still a class 8 student. Everyone who attended the wedding, including the priest, will be considered as accused in the case. The girl was at her grandmother’s house owing of school holidays when she planned to marry her off,” said Geetha, an advocate at the District Child Protection Unit.
Preliminary police investigations revealed that often conflicts used to take place between the girl’s mother and grandmother over the choice of her future husband. Agitated by this, her grandmother planned to marry the girl off without informing her parents.
{{/usCountry}}Preliminary police investigations revealed that often conflicts used to take place between the girl’s mother and grandmother over the choice of her future husband. Agitated by this, her grandmother planned to marry the girl off without informing her parents.
{{/usCountry}}Police are conducting further investigations into the case following which action will be taken against others, they said.
Expressing concern over cases of child marriage, a member of Karnataka State Children Rights Protection Commission said, the state has more than 56,000 officials dedicated to preventing child marriages. “Despite so many officials spread across various cities and villages, such cases continue,” said Shashidhar Kosambe.
Kosambe added that the health and family welfare department has not been filing cases with the police under Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2021. “Despite being aware of the growing rate of underage pregnancies from child marriages, the department has not taken any action to prevent child marriages,” Kosambe alleged.