A senior lawyer of the Patna High Court was arrested and sent to jail for forcibly marrying a minor girl, police said on Tuesday.
Bharat Singh, 50, was arrested on Monday on the charge of abducting and marrying Punita Kumari, 12, of Bhabhua town in Kaimur district, about 150 km from here.
Police officials said they arrested Singh on the basis of a written complaint filed against him by the girl and her family members.
Singh, a resident of Mokari village near Bhabhua, was first married three decades ago and has four grown up children while Punita Kumari is a student of Class V of the Government Middle School in Bhabhua.
"She said that on June 11 Bharat Singh and his henchmen forcibly took her to Varanasi and threatened her to sign on some document, which turned out to be a marriage certificate," a police officer said.
After her return to Bhabhua a few days later, she narrated the entire story to her parents. "When her family members requested Bharat Singh to return the documents on which he took her signature, he refused and told them that she was his legally married wife," the police officer added.
Police have recovered a notary affidavit made at Varanasi civil court in which Singh has claimed that he is 40 years old while Punita is 19 years old. The affidavit also states that they got married at the famous Sankat Mochan Temple and are living as husband and wife.
{{/usCountry}}Police have recovered a notary affidavit made at Varanasi civil court in which Singh has claimed that he is 40 years old while Punita is 19 years old. The affidavit also states that they got married at the famous Sankat Mochan Temple and are living as husband and wife.
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