RANIPET: Officials stopped the marriage between a Class 10 girl to her 24-year-old paternal relative in Walajah in Ranipet on Saturday.
"We received a tip-off on Saturday morning that the marriage was scheduled to be solemnised the same day at 11.00 am," P Samraj, District Coordinator of Child Line told TNIE. The officials of the Child Line, District Social Welfare Office (DSWO), and police reached the spot and found out that the girl was 16-years-old, Samraj said. The families of the bride and groom had been making arrangements to marry her off to the relative, he added.
After hearing about the incident, Collector D Baskara Pandian went to the spot, spoke to the members and advised them against the marriage. The coordinator said the girl and her parents will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for counselling soon. 72 child marriages stopped from April 2021-22
According to the data shared by the district administration, as many as 72 child marriages had been stopped by the Child Line and DSWO in Ranipet between April 2021 and 2022. This was through distress calls made to the helpline number 1098.
Number of child marriages stopped in Ranipet between April 21-22
Sholingur block--26 cases
Arakkonam --12
Arcot -- 10
Thimiri --10
Walajah -- 8
Nemili --4
Kaveripakkam -- 2
Total--72