Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Rural Police Prevent Seven Child Marriages

The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Rural Police stopped seven child marriages by counselling the parents of the brides. The parents were informed about the ill effects of child marriage on the physical, mental, and educational development of young girls.

There is a custom among the poor families in the district, especially in the rural areas, to marry their daughters to the boys from their community before the girls reach the legal marriageable age.

Under the guidance of SP Vinaykumar Rathod, a drive has been implemented in the district, and seven such marriages were stopped between the period of Apr 30 to May 10.

API Aarti Jadhav and her team collected the information about the marriages and started their operation. The marriage of a 15-year-old girl at Kekat Jalgaon, in the jurisdiction of Pachod Police Station, a 16-year-old girl in Vanegaon in Phulambri Police Station, a 16-year-old girl in Ladsavangi in Karmad Police Station, a 16-year-old girl in Kanakshil in Khuldabad Police Station and three child marriages at Waghalgaon, Borgaon and Vadodbazar, respectively, under Vadodbazar police station were stopped.

According to the police, they first gather leads regarding such child marriages from confidential sources. Then the police personnel of the Bharosa Cell visit the parents of these to-be brides and, through counselling, they stop these marriages. Apart from making the parents aware that child marriage is a crime, they also make them aware of how such marriages have negative physical and emotional effects on girls. The parents give written assurance to the police that they won’t marry off their daughters until they reach the legal age.

The action was initiated under the guidance of SP Rathod, additional SP Annapurna Singh by API Jadhav, Sunil Ingale, Sheshrao Chavan, Kapil Bankar, Irshad Pathan, Manisha Salvi, Sapna Charvande and Bhagyashree Chavan.