VIJAYAWADA: As many as 34 child marriages were prevented by Disha police in the last two months at various districts across the State with the latest being one at Kadapa district on Saturday.With the help of Siddavatam police, Disha police prevented a 15-year-old minor girl from being married to her relative in Siddavatam village soon after they received a panic call from the girl’s friends who informed Disha police about the marriage. “Disha police rushed to the spot in less than eight minutes and stopped the marriage and gave counselling to the girl and her parents,” said the Disha special officer G Pala Raju.
According to the police, the minor girl is a daughter of daily wagers and reportedly completed her intermediate course recently. When her parents held talks with the family members and decided to perform marriage with her distant relative, the girl refused and informed the same to her friends. In order to stop the marriage at any cost, her friends sent a distress call to Disha police through Disha SOS app alleging that the girl’s parents are making preparations for the marriage on July 23 in a low key affair among their relatives.
Upon receiving information, Disha police alerted Siddavatam police, who rushed to the spot and rescued the girl. “Both the family members of boy and minor girl were counselled and convinced to perform the girl’s marriage only after completing her studies and attaining legal age for marriage. The girl completed her intermediate with good marks and expressed her willingness to pursue a degree and other higher studies,” the police said.
Speaking to TNIE, Disha state special officer G Pala Raju said most of the cases of child marriages are due to lack of awareness among parents, traditional orthodox customs, poor economic status, meagre security for women, single mothers depending on their family members, ill-health, broken families and migration. “The application was downloaded in over 1.2 crore devices with having more than 80 percent active users,” Pala Raju explained.