Thanks to the interference of the District Child Protection Unit and the Jamboo marine police, a child marriage which was going on at the Bengali-dominated Kajalapatia village under Mahakalapada block was stopped in the nick of time. According to Jamboo marine police station IIC Sukadev Das, while the marriage was going on at Kajalapatia village under Batighar panchayat between the minor daughter of Nidhiram Mandal with the son of a fellow village Mukunda Das, a police team led by legal –cum-Protection officer of District Child Protection Unit Bibekanada Atabudhi rushed to the spot and managed to stop the event.
According to official sources, the minor girl was a student of class 8. The family members slyly made an attempt to solemnize her marriage. The father of the girl gave in writing to authorities that he would not marry her off as long as she did not attain age of a major. Child marriage has become a day-to-day affair in the Bengali dominated coastal pockets of Rajnagar and Mahakalapada blocks. It is said child marriage is a long continuing custom in the community. It is rampant at Ramnagar, Kharnashi, Jamboo and Batighar panchayats.