Child marriage bid foiled in Jharsuguda

Jharsuguda: Child Welfare Committee (CWC) officials today successfully prevented the marriage of a minor girl at Katapali village under Sadar block of Jharsuguda district.

The matter came to light after the members of the District Child Protection Unit received information about the marriage scheduled to take place today.

Acting on the tip-off, a joint team of Child Protection Unit, Childline and Police reached the venue only to find that the groom’s family had changed the venue after getting a whiff about the raid.

Later, the officials tracked the mobile phones of the family members and raided an isolated place at Katapali where the marriage was secretly taking place.

“We tracked the mobile number of the girl’s father and rescued the minor. As the girl belongs to Bolangir she will be transferred to Bolangir CWC and the next course of action will be decided by them,” said Chairman of CWC, Anandini Padhi.

However, the family members of both the families had fled the spot prior to the arrival of police.

The minor girl is a student of class-IX and her marriage was fixed with one Pradeep Das, a resident of Deogaon in Bolangir district. Despite being aware that the girl has not attained majority, the family members of both had fixed the marriage, informed sources.