Police and Bachpan Bachao Andolan team stopped the marriage
– Photo : Amar Ujala
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There was a wedding of a girl in a marriage hall in Runnisaidpur of Sitamarhi district. The groom had arrived with the wedding procession. The wedding rituals had also begun. However, the rounds were yet to be completed. Before this, the police reached there and stopped the wedding saying that the girl was a minor. After this, the wedding procession had to return without the bride.
According to the information, all the preparations for the marriage of the bride and groom were done in a marriage hall in Runnisaidpur of Sitamarhi district. During this, as soon as the police reached, there was chaos in the marriage hall. Actually, the marriage of a 15-year-old minor girl was being conducted in the said marriage hall. The police got this information from Bachpan Bachao Andolan sources. After that, the team along with the police reached the spot and reprimanded the bride’s family. Then the marriage was stopped. It is being told that the groom had also reached the marriage hall after dressing up. But at the last moment, the administration got the inkling of child marriage. Immediately after this, the team along with Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Child Helpline Police Force reached the spot under the leadership of Block Development Officer cum Assistant Child Marriage Prohibition Officer Sunil Kumar. Then taking action, the marriage of the minor girl was stopped.
BDO Sunil Kumar spoke to the guardian of the minor girl. On learning that the girl’s age was 15 years, the BDO reprimanded her family members. After getting the bond papers filled, the BDO strictly warned the people of the boy and girl’s side that legal action would be taken if the child marriage prohibition law was violated. He also reprimanded the marriage hall operator.
Trainee police sub-inspector Amrit Pal and senior assistant project officer Mukund Kumar Chaudhary of Bachpan Bachao Andolan informed the family about the provisions of the child marriage prohibition law and the punishment for violation. The family members of the girl and the boy apologized to the administrative team and promised that they will not repeat such a mistake in future.
In this context, Block Development Officer Sunil Kumar said that the Child Marriage Prohibition Act sets a minimum age of 21 years for men and 18 years for girls. Child marriage has a negative impact on education, health and childhood. Child marriage has a direct impact not only on boys and girls, but also on their families and communities. He said that to completely curb child marriage, awareness campaigns are being run by holding continuous meetings through the Child Protection Committee formed at the Panchayat level. Under the Child Marriage Prohibition Act, there is also a provision for imprisonment along with financial penalty. On the occasion, the police force of Runnisaidpur police station, Child Helpline case workers Krishna Kumar Singh, Krishna Kumar Paswan and supervisor Kishun Kumar Chandravanshi etc. were part of the team.
