Bengaluru: In the Kolar district of Karnataka, a 31-year-old man allegedly married two sisters, one of them a minor who is differently-abled. The event took place on May 7 but came out on Sunday (May 16) when the police arrested the man, named Umapathi and his parents, in-laws and a few other people under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
As the reports say, Umapathi, a mason by profession, was about to marry 21-year-old Supriya, a native of Begamadagu village in Mulbagal taluka. But, a few days before the wedding, Supriya began requesting Umapathi to marry her 16-year-old sister also, who is deaf and mute. Supriya worried that nobody would marry her sister due to her differently-abled status. At Supriya’s urging, Umapathi accepted to marry the minor. On May 7, he married the two sisters.
As per the reports, Child Development Project Officer Ramesh, after knowing about the minor’s marriage, came hurrying to the village. He found that Supriya was at her marital house in a neighbouring village while her minor sister was at her parents’ home. The police arrested Umapathi, his parents, in-laws, the priest who performed the wedding rituals and the printer who made the wedding invitation cards. Under relevant sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, a case has been filed against them.
“According to Venkataswamy, a Vegamadagu villager, the bride’s father Nagarajappa too had married Subbamma and her sister Ranemma, who is deaf and dumb and has no children, Subbamma has four daughters. The eldest got married last year, while the youngest is studying in primary school,” reports say.
The Child Development Project Officer said that a medical examination of the minor girl will be held. Her care will be given to her parents if she is willing to go with them, or else she’ll be sent to a state-run home for children.
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