Child Marriage: Minor Dalit girl forcibly married off by her parents to repay debt
On Wednesday parents of a 13-year-old Dalit girl, who got her married to a relative of theirs as they couldn’t repay a debt of Rs 15,000, were arrested. The police also arrested the girl’s husband, her in-laws and booked cases against 20 villagers who conducted the marriage on June 26.
As per the police, the girl was studying in a government school at Eruthikonapatti village. Her father Samy (45) and mother Valli (40) are daily wage labourers. They got the girl forcibly married to Subramani (23), the son of Murugan (45) and Anjugam (40) of Goundanur in Dindigul district. Subramani had also forced the girl to have physical relationship with him. Officials of the Social Welfare Department, along with police, rescued the girl.
On Tuesday evening the matter was taken to the Kulithalai All Women Police Station. Police arrested Samy, Valli, Subramani, Murgan and Anjugam on Wednesday. They were booked under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2006 and POCSO Act 2012. “Subramani was Samy’s nephew. They said child marriage was common in their family. The girl, who had come to her parents home during Deepavali, refused to go back to her husband’s place. Despite her refusal, they had forced her to leave. So the girl filed a complaint against them” said one of the officer.
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