Sambhal police prevent minor’s marriage to 50-year-old man

Local child protection groups alerted the Sambhal police to stop the alleged marriage of a 16-year-old girl to a 50-year-old man in the Nakhasa police station area. Scheduled for Thursday, the child's parents had agreed to the union in exchange for Rs 5 lakh. Station Officer Sanjay Kumar revealed that the local child protection organization Prayatna notified the police about the forced marriage on Tuesday evening.

Upon arriving at the house, belonging to the alleged middleman, police discovered the girl there with her parents and the middleman having fled the scene. The minor was taken to a One-Stop Centre before being placed under the care of the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Wednesday. Following the thwarted marriage, the CWC returned her to her parents after obtaining a promise that any future attempts to arrange such a marriage would lead to legal consequences.

In her account to the police, the girl disclosed that her family had taken her to the house under the guise of attending a ceremony; she only learned about the arranged marriage upon reaching the venue where the haldi ceremony and wedding procession were already in progress. She identified herself as the eldest of five siblings, all of whom were not attending school.

Child protection group Just Rights for Children (JRC) informed the police about the proposed marriage via an alert received from an individual. Jitendra Parmar of JRC stated that a local resident had informed the organization about the impending marriage between the minor and a 50-year-old widower. When police and volunteers arrived at the house, the marriage rituals were already underway.

Although the girl's parents and the middleman had left, the middleman's wife and children remained with the minor. Police have documented the rescue in their station records, as confirmed by Station Officer Kumar.