YADGIR: After a three-day search operation, Yadgir officials finally traced and handed over the minor girl, whose marriage was ‘stopped’ by officials recently, to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
The child marriage that was slated to happen on May 3 was reportedly stopped by the officials, following a tip-off by The New Indian Express to the deputy commissioner. While the officials stopped the wedding at a church in Naikal village in Shahpur taluk, the minor’s parents were reluctant to reveal the whereabouts of the girl.
National Child Labour Project director Raghuveer Singh Rathode who led the raid had requested Wadagera police to rescue the girl. Even after two days, the girl was untraced and a relative said, “The minor girl was married to a 21-year-old man after the officials left.” They also revealed to the newspaper that the girl is stationed at her house in Kowlur village in Yadgir taluk.
After informing the same to DC Kurma Rao, he sent a team to her house on Monday. The team was led by Rathode. He said as soon as it was informed by the DC, the team raided the house. The parents of both the minor girl and the 21-year-old man assembled and the girl was rescued.
He said the parents gave in writing that they won’t conduct their daughter’s marriage until she attains marital age. “The parents did not admit that they married off the girl. However, a relative of the girl said after the officials left, the wedding ceremony took place and we have now asked for photographic proof to book the parents under the Child Marriage Act,” he said.
Rathode said, “As it was felt that the girl was unsafe in the hands of her parents, she was handed over to the CWC who will counsel her and if they feel she is in need of government shelter, the girl will be protected by the government up to 18 years.”