65-yr-old man forcibly marries minor, arrested

Wishing for a progeny, a childless 65-year-old man forcibly married a minor girl in Orissa.

Wishing for a progeny, a childless 65-year-old man forcibly married a minor girl in Orissa. He was later arrested by the police, the Oriya daily 'Samaja' reported on Tuesday.

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The 16-year-old victim, a resident of Chandanpur district, had on Monday gone to the local temple for offering prayers when Bijaya Mahala, a middle man, allegedly intoxicated her.

Bijaya then took the insensate girl to a temple in the neighbouring Bhadrak district and got her married to Prafulla Mahala, a resident of Mahuligaon village, about 170 km from Bhubaneswar.

The girl started crying when she regained her senses. Noticing this, villagers beat up Prafulla and handed him over to the police.

Prafulla, the news daily said, is already married but wanted to marry a young girl as his first wife had borne him no child.

The middle man Bijaya is absconding.