A couple in Telangana allegedly sold their two minor daughters in the guise of marriage to come out of financial troubles. Telangana Police arrested seven accused in the case including the parents of the twin sisters and registered a case against them under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.
According to Kamareddy district Superintendent of Police (SP) Srinivas Reddy, the twin sisters belonged to a remote village in Machareddy mandal in the district. Their mother died after they were born and their father married another woman and got two children including a boy and a girl. With this, the number of children increased to four in the family.
“When the twin sisters turned 14, their father and stepmother planned to sell them out in order to come out of financial problems. They made a deal with two persons from Rajasthan called Sharman and Krishna Kumar to sell one girl for Rs 80,000 and the other girl for Rs 50,000. The parents convinced the twin sisters to marry. The marriage was conducted on the outskirts of Hyderabad city,” he said.
The two couples started their family life near Hyderabad but a fight started between them after the twin sisters came to know that their husbands were already married and had children. One of the twin sisters came out of the clutches of the accused and reached Uggrwai village on January 16 where the villagers informed District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Sravanthi about the girl, according to police.
The DCPO said that she reached the spot along with the staff and enquired the girl about her.
“He harassed her physically and mentally. Later she came to know that he was already married and had a daughter. When the minor girl questioned him about his early marriage, he physically assaulted her and sent her out of his house,” the DCPO said.
The minor girl with an amount of Rs 100 reached Kamareddy. With the fear of her father returning home, she preferred to stay at a temple in Uggrwai village with the hope that someone may feed her food.
“She also said that she came to know that her sister also sold to someone 20 days ago. We took care of her and filed a complaint with the police. Now the twin sisters are in our care. If they want to go for further studies, we will provide all sorts of help to the girls,” DCPO Sravanthi said.
Based on the information given by the girl, the DCPO filed a complaint with the police where a case registered under the POCSO act on seven accused including twin sister’s father, stepmother, Krishnakumar, Sharman and Mahender, Collar Rambati and Ramesh who worked as agents in settling the deal in selling the minor girls.
The SP said that the seven accused have been sent to remand and the investigation is on.
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