The Childline, Brhampur once again saved a Class X girl from being married off in Bakilikana village under Sheragada block in Ganjam district on Friday.
On the advice of Childline director Sudhir Sabat, Kalyan Kumar Singh and Pranati Kaur and ICDS Supervisor Swarnalata Devi went to the village and convinced parents and relatives of the girl and the groom not to go for the wedding as marriage of a minor girl is an offence under law. Then, the marriage was stopped.
Similarly, the Gajapati Childline under the leadership of district coordinator Sai Prasad Samal stopped a child marriage.
According to sources, the child marriage was going to be held at Machamara under Gurandi police limits. G Rabi Kumar (27) son of late G lakhman Rao was to marry a minor girl of the same village.
Acting on a tipoff, Childline district coordinator Samal informed the same to DCPO Arun Kumar Thripathy, CWC Binodh Chandra Jena, Gurandi IIC P Shyam Sundar Rao and Gosani CDPO Goui Nayak. Soon the police and the Childline activists raided the site where the marriage ceremony was to be held and rescued the minor girl.
The parents of the bride and groom said that they were not aware of the law prohibiting child marriage. The Machmara village committee and the parents gave a written assurance that the marriage will not take place until the minor turns 18 years old.
