Phiringia: A minor girl has been rescued from her to be in-laws house at Khajuripara police limits under Kelapara panchayat in Kandhamal by district police, ChildLine and Phiringia Integrated Child Development officials Friday before being handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
The plight of the minor came to the fore after some locals informed Child Line about her proposed marriage with a boy who also hailed from Khajuripara.
A team led by Phiringia SDPO Manjula Pradhan, Councillor Suprava Nayak and Anup Kumar Sahoo along with Phiringia police officials rushed to the house and rescued the girl.
The girl was produced before the CWC to record her statement and the director of CWC Ashok Behera said to keep the girl at Banabasi Seva Samiti Child Care home.
As per the Hindu Marriage Act at the time of marriage the bridegroom must be at least 21 the bride 18 years old to be eligible to get married.
But here in some villages, the law has been thrown to the winds. Child marriages are rampant under the very nose of the administration and the police.
The main reason for parents marrying off children early is illiteracy and poverty. Parents marry off their daughters at an early age, and by the time they become 18 or 19 they start giving birth to children. This is going on unchecked in several blocks of Kandhamal district.
PNN