Nayagarh: The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act seems to have gone haywire in Nayagarh district as a 15-year-old girl was allegedly married off twice to the same groom. Reportedly, after the minor’s rescue from the marriage pandal, she was handed over to her parents, who married her off again just hours later at Sipahi Asuradhipa area under Sadar police limits in Nayagarh district, late Wednesday night.
Reports said that the Childline officials over a tip-off rescued the minor with the help of Sadar police officials during her marriage to a youth, Wednesday. The marriage was foiled and the guests from the bride and groom’s side returned.
Later, the Childline officials produced her before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Wednesday evening. However, the CWC took the light of the matter and handed her over to her parents the same evening. When questioned, CWC officials claimed that she was handed over to her parents as she fell unconscious.
However, locals raised doubts about the claim and questioned why the girl was not admitted to a hospital if at she fell unconscious. The Childline officials and police did not intervene despite being aware of the development. The parents then took her back home and married her off again to the same groom late Wednesday night. This has raised doubts about the functioning of the CWC in Nayagarh.
It is alleged that the CWC president handed over the girl to her parents in exchange for Rs 15,000 bribe. The development has drawn strong responses from the local residents as they demanded the district administration and the state government intervene in the matter. They alleged that the incident, if not acted upon, will boost child marriages in the district and encourage middlemen to lure the poor and gullible people to marry off their minor daughters below the permissible age for their own monetary gains.
Advocate Ranjit Dash said that it was not correct on the part of the CWC to hand over the minor girl to her parents. He said that releasing the girl in alleged exchange for Rs 15,000 bribe is giving a different message. The girl’s remarriage has made a mockery of the Act, he said demanding stringent action against those involved in this incident. When contacted, CWC President Santosh Kumar Sahu rejected the charges of bribery and termed them as baseless. He said that the girl was handed over to her parents as she fell unconscious but it would have been wise to get her admitted to a hospital. He said that her parents have given an undertaking that they will not marry her off till she attains maturity and legal age. He also ruled out that the girl was married off to the groom late Wednesday night.