YADGIR: Timely alert has thwarted a child marriage in a remote village of Yadgir district. A minor girl from Kowlur, Yadgir taluk, was being forced into wedlock by her family in a church at Naikal of Shahpur taluk. After The New Indian Express learnt about this from a member of a local women’s organisation that functions in Raichur district. This was brought to the notice of the Yadgir district administration.

Deputy Commissioner Kurma Rao rushed a team to the spot where the wedding was arranged. Accompanied by local police, the team raided the place and stopped the wedding. It is learnt that there was some commotion at the venue during the raid as parents of the 13-year-old put up resistance. According to sources, the parents protested saying that many child marriages occur in Naikal near Wadagera and that it was a personal matter. 

The police and officials would have nothing of it, and stopped the wedding. They also took a handwritten oath (Mucchalike) from the parents that they would not force the child into marriage until she attained the legally stipulated age. 

However, the minor girl was not present at the church at the time of the raid, as she is said to have been taken away to an undisclosed location. District National Child Labour Project director Raghuveer Singh T, who was part of the team, said parents of the victim admitted that the girl was a minor. They refused to reveal her whereabouts, though. “Since they had got wind of our raid, the family whisked the girl away and hid her somewhere.

The groom is 21 years old,” he said. After the parents did not disclose the address of where the girl had been taken to, the five-member team gave a written request to Wadagera police to trace her. The team asked the police to bring the child to the Child Welfare Community once she was traced. “The CWC will counsel the minor before deciding if it is safe to send her back to her parents. Otherwise, she will be accommodated in a government facility,” he added.

DC Rao expressed gratitude for the alert and said the department concerned would ensure safety of the girl.

Minor saved from getting married
Kalaburagi: District Child Protection Committee, Child Line and the police on Thursday prevented a child marriage in Bhutpur village, said Child Line sub-centre director Anadraj on Friday. He told  Express the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee before being admitted to a home for girls in Kalaburagi.