About 111 people have been booked in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao following the marriage of a minor girl to a 22-year-old man, after her elder sister– with whom the man’s wedding was settled — eloped.
Though the elder sister subsequently returned, before the scheduled marriage, the youth who works in Gujarat refused to marry her. After this the 13-year-old minor was asked to step in and marry the man on December 13, police confirmed.
Circle officer, Safipur, Rishikant Shukla said the police were gathering the videos and photographs of the marriage. “The FIR has been registered on one Raj Kumari’s complaint against people from both sides of the bride and the groom,” he said. The officer said that people who were present for the controversial and illegal wedding were being identified.
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The action is being taken under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, which forbids marriage of anyone below 18 years, and Juvenile Justice (care and protection act), police said.
The district child welfare committee inquired into this case on a complaint by social activist Raj Kumari who has since also registered an FIR on the issue. In all, 111 people had been booked, the police said.
These included the priest who solemnised the marriage as well as those who attended it. In her complaint Rajkumari said she learnt from people about the child marriage in the village after a complaint was made to Child Welfare Committee chairperson Preeti Singh.
Singh sent child protection officer Sanjay Mishra and two others to investigate. However, police said that the minor girl’s family on December 14 attempted to mislead the investigators by claiming that the minor girl was the elder one.
Family members allegedly told the team that the ‘jaimaal (the process of exchanging garlands)’ was performed outside the house. However, when the minor girl was produced before the committee, she admitted that she was indeed the younger one.
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