A group of police and district baby safety unit rescued a category 8 woman on Friday who was illegally married off by her grandmother to a 24-year-old man a day earlier than, mentioned police. The grandmother was later arrested. The incident occurred in Bengaluru’s Sarjapur.
Police got here into motion after the mom of the 14-year-old woman filed a criticism at Sarjapur police station. She informed police that on February 15, the woman’s paternal grandmother alongside along with her son and daughter-in-law married off the minor with out the data or consent of the mother and father.
“My daughter is a minor and he or she was forcefully married off to Vinod Kumar of Halasinakaipura. The wedding was carried out on the Yallamma temple in Kaiwar within the presence of the woman’s grandmother, aunt, uncle, and the boy’s mother and father,” the woman’s mom acknowledged in her criticism.
Primarily based on the criticism, police mentioned, they arrested the woman’s grandmother and booked eight individuals current on the event, together with the groom, underneath Part 366 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Youngster Marriage Restriction Act. “The woman was married with out her consent. She continues to be a category 8 pupil. Everybody who attended the marriage, together with the priest, might be thought of as accused within the case. The woman was at her grandmother’s home owing of college holidays when she deliberate to marry her off,” mentioned Geetha, an advocate on the District Youngster Safety Unit.
Preliminary police investigations revealed that always conflicts used to happen between the woman’s mom and grandmother over the selection of her future husband. Agitated by this, her grandmother deliberate to marry the woman off with out informing her mother and father.
Police are conducting additional investigations into the case following which motion might be taken towards others, they mentioned.
Expressing concern over circumstances of kid marriage, a member of Karnataka State Youngsters Rights Safety Fee mentioned, the state has greater than 56,000 officers devoted to stopping baby marriages. “Regardless of so many officers unfold throughout varied cities and villages, such circumstances proceed,” mentioned Shashidhar Kosambe.
Kosambe added that the well being and household welfare division has not been submitting circumstances with the police underneath Safety Of Youngsters From Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2021. “Regardless of being conscious of the rising charge of underage pregnancies from baby marriages, the division has not taken any motion to stop baby marriages,” Kosambe alleged.