The parents and husband of a 12-year-old girl were booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act after she had approached the social worker claiming that her parents had forced to marry the man a month ago. The social worker had approached the Pimpri Chinchwad Commissionerate. Upon receiving this complaint, an FIR was filed under the Bhosari police station on the girl’s parents and the 19-year-old bridegroom’s name.
This incident took place in Indiraya Nagar in Bhosari. They had planned and executed this wedding using the COVID-19 lockdown to their advantage and the fact that there will be no police or law enforcement to look into this illegal marriage. This had happened in July.
Police sub-inspector Pooja Kadam, who had filed the FIR, had said, “The girl is 12 years old, while the boy is a 19-year-old from the same community. It seems that it is a ritual in their community. Despite opposition from the girl, no one had listened, and it was performed last month. She had approached a social worker who had guided her to us. Upon enquiry in their locality, their neighbours spilt the beans. Based on the primary investigation, her family was arrested. They later confessed, saying that they had done so under the insistence of their “community head.”
“All the suspects are roadside vendors. We will soon arrest them”, she added. The girl is now safe at her maternal grandparents’ house.