Even as the Covid-19 lockdown remains in force, in a case of crowd behaviour residents of a village Jharkhand's Garhwa district under Manjhiaon police station late last month forcibly married off an early-teenage couple after extracting, under duress, a so-called admission of their physical intimacy.
When Ranchi-based Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) activists learned about the "forceful solemnisation" of the crudely-conducted "wedding", they shot off a letter to the Garhwa superintendent of police on May 10, drawing his attention to the apprehension that the girl "has yet to attain the age of 18".
According to the letter, "based on facts and circumstances", appropriate action be taken keeping in view specific sections of the 2015 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, besides other criminal laws. The legal age of marriage for girls is 18 while it is 21 for boys.
According to information gathered by BBA, the wedding took place a few days after the boy went to meet the girl in her village under Majhiaon police station. The boy was "caught" by some of the villagers and in his presence the girl, whose age is said to be less than 18, was forced to admit to physical intimacy between the two.
Three video clips that emanated from the village testify to the crude interrogation of the girl followed by the mere application of vermillion on her forehead by the boy and then proclaiming them as man and wife.
The matter came to light when the boy filed a police case against a few people of the girl's village on April 29 after his friend and he were beaten up because he had gone over to meet the girl. The complaint (No. 48/20, dated April 30) was registered under Section 323, 325, 341, 504, 506, 384, 387 and 34 of the IPC at Majhiaon police station. The boy's age, as recorded on his Aadhar card, is 18. While confirming the news Manjhiaon thana in-charge Yogendra Kumar said based on the complaint of Rakesh Rajwar police registered a case against Ibrar Khan, Farid Khan and 8 to 10 unknown person. Police also arrested Ibrar in the connection and police trying to arrest others accused.
A huge crowd gathered in an open space and the so-called "wedding" took place in their presence of the villagers. The parents of neither the girl nor the boy were present during the occasion. In its letter to the Garhwa SP, the BBA has alleged that the so-called wedding was "forcibly solemnised", that "it seems that the neither girl nor the boy had attained the legal age of marriage and that some of the villagers committed atrocity on the girl that is unbecoming of civil behaviour.
After she was produced before the local child welfare committee (CWC) via video conferencing facility, it was stated that the both the girl and the boy were well below the marriage age 18 and 21, respectively.
Child Welfare Comitee chairman Upendra Dubey said, "On receiving the information, I got the matter investigated by the district child line agency.
Through Video conferencing I introduced the girl to the CWC. The girl is 16 years old. The girl accepted that her forced marriage has been performed to a boy by the villagers.”
Seeking a police probe, Delhi-based BBA spokesperson Manish Sharma demanded that "besides strict action against the villagers, appropriate rehabilitation steps be taken and that the entire matter be referred to the BDO and then to a court of law which would be appropriate authority to take a decision on holding the 'marriage' null and void".