Vellore Police stopped the marriage of a minor girl scheduled to take place Thursday morning at a marriage hall in Tollgate area here.
An anonymous caller provided information about the wedding on the police emergency number 100 around 1 am on Thursday, along with the address of the marriage hall in Tollgate.
The police attached to the All Women Police Station and officials of the Social Welfare Department arrived at the hall an hour before the marriage. Enquiries revealed that the bride was a minor aged 17.
Further enquiries revealed that she had completed her Plus-2 this year and her parents had planned to marry her off to Moorthy (30) of Ariyur. The officials immediately stopped the arrangements that were in progress at the hall as per the decided muhurtham time between 7.30 am and 9 am.
Around 9 am, around 10 media persons belonging to the regional visual media went to the marriage hall to capture the footage of the stopped wedding.
However, this was opposed by the people who had organised the marriage party and this resulted in a scuffle. Following this incident, a few media persons staged a road roko on the Vellore-Thorapadi Road for half-an-hour, demanding action against the people who had behaved violently with them.
Following a complaint from a TV channel reporter, the Vellore South police registered a case in this connection and arrested Gnanavelu (20) of Thorapadi, Sakarapani (51) of Madhavaram, Chennai and Gopi (50) of Vyasarpadi, Chennai.
The arrested were then remanded to the Vellore Central Prison for Men.