A 13-year-old school-going girl walked into the Jivantala police station in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal on Saturday afternoon and requested the officer-in-charge to stop her father from marrying her off. Seeing the girl wearing her school uniform and schoolbag, the police and child welfare staff took immediate measure and convinced her parents to stop searching for a groom until she attains the marriageable age.
“Please help me stop this marriage. I want to study but my father is marrying me off,” the girl reportedly told OC Subhash Chandra Ghosh. As per a report in Times of India, the girl’s father had been searching for a partner for her for past six months. He was adamant in his efforts to marry his daughter off despite the disapproval of the girl and the fact that she is a minor. Finally, on Saturday evening, the parents of the girl went to finalise her wedding in Chandaneshwar village’s Bhangar.
On Saturday, while returning from school, the minor dropped in at a classmate’s home asking her to accompany her to the police station. But the classmate refused. Later, she decided to fight single-handedly. She walked 2.5 km to the police station and asked officials to let her meet the OC.
After listening to her ordeal, a team of two child welfare committee representatives were sent to the girl’s home to convince her father, but their efforts went in vain. Later, they threatened him with legal consequences of marrying off a minor daughter after which he was convinced and committed in writing that he would not marry his daughter until she came of age.
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