Cops reach in nick of time to prevent child marriage

Alerted by anonymous caller, police storm wedding venue and rescue 14-year-old girl

Cops reach in nick of time to prevent child marriage

Alerted by anonymous caller, police storm wedding venue and rescue 14-year-old girl

THE forcible wedding of a 14-year-old girl to a 20-year-old man was prevented as the police reached the spot and arrested the teenager's parents and the groom under sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

According to the police, the girl's parents had lied about her age, and after intervening they found that she was not yet 18.

The Pimpri police said a call from an anonymous person had alerted the control room. The caller had informed the police that a minor girl was getting married on Friday afternoon.

After receiving the call, a police team from Pimpri rushed to the spot and took the girl, groom and their parents to the police station for an inquiry.
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The minor girl is a resident of Nehrunagar while the groom has been identified as Anand Mangalwedhekar from Wadarwadi.

The police said the marriage was formally fixed and some rituals had taken place on Thursday.

"Our officer who reached the spot found something suspicious and summoned them all to the police station for questioning," API M A Sawant said. "The parents claimed that the required documents and age proof were missing."

Birth records
The police sent the girl to Sassoon hospital for a medical examination to verify her age, but by the time the team reached the hospital the department concerned had closed for the day.

"The relatives of the girl then brought her birth record from a hospital in Nehrunagar, where she was born. The record showed she was 14 years and five months old," Sawant said.
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"We have arrested the boy, his parents and the girl's parents under Sections 9, 10 and 11 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006."