13-year-old bride’s marriage to 42-year-old man in Indore stopped:Family showed fake marksheet to investigating team; 19-year-old brother’s marriage also halted

In Indore, a case has come to light where a 13-year-old minor girl was being married to a 42-year-old man. The wedding was scheduled for April 25, but upon receiving information, the administration team reached the spot. During the investigation, the family members presented fake mark sheets to hide the age, but the truth came out during verification and the marriage was stopped in time. The administrative team got the documents verified through the District Education Officer, which revealed that the mark sheets presented were not issued by the concerned schools at all. The investigation found the girl’s age to be 13 years and her brother’s age to be 19 years, while the family was claiming higher ages. After this, the marriages of both the boy and girl were cancelled. It came to light in the case that under a social practice like ‘Beti Do-Beti Lo’ (Give Daughter-Take Daughter), an elderly person had arranged his 13-year-old granddaughter’s marriage with a 42-year-old man to get his grandson married. The administrative team expressed strong displeasure over this and counselled the family members that child marriage is legally a crime and the daughter should be married only at the prescribed age. District Program Officer Rajneesh Sinha stated that after receiving a complaint on the helpline, an investigation was conducted in village Rangwasa. In the preliminary investigation, the family tried to prove the correct age by showing mark sheets, but when suspicion arose, a thorough investigation was conducted, which revealed the fraud. School said, ‘They did not study here’ The school in Indore declared the mark sheet as fake. The school clarified that this mark sheet was not issued by them and neither did the concerned boy-girl study there. According to the Hoshangabad mark sheet, the girl’s age was found to be 13 years and the boy’s age was found to be 19 years. After verification of the information, the team immediately left to stop the child marriage. Original documents were demanded from the family at the spot, but they only had photos on their mobile phones. No one had the actual documents. Fearing action, the family members said that the in-laws had the papers, but they too could not produce the documents. Upon being informed about the law, the family agreed to cancel the marriage. Surveillance from Indore to Ujjain The marriage was to take place at Chandravanshi Bagri Samaj Dharamshala in Ujjain. Information was also given to the Ujjain administration so that surveillance could be maintained there as well. The marriage that was to take place in village Dayakheda of Sanwer tehsil was also stopped through Tehsildar Poonam Tomar. Tent and Sound System Removed from the Spot In Rangwasa, the wedding pavilion was decorated and the sound system was running. Upon finding the age to be less than legal, the tent and sound system operators were immediately informed about the law and the materials were removed. Within a short time, all the equipment was removed. The wedding card printer was also warned, after which he apologized in writing.