Elderly man turns saviour, stops granddaughter’s ‘child marriage’ in Cuttack

An elderly man turned saviour for his minor granddaughter who was being forced to marry a man from Uttar Pradesh by her mother and a few middlemen.

The mother of the girl from Gurudijhatia area was forcibly getting her married to a man from UP at Gadagadia Temple in Cuttack. 

After learning that the marriage was being conducted without the girl’s consent, the elderly man alerted the Childline officials who rushed to the spot and rescued the girl.

The officials have detained the middleman and the girl’s family members and have launched a probe. However, the groom managed to give the police a slip.

“By the time police reached the spot, the mob there gheraoed us and slyly helped the groom to escape. We managed to rescue the victim girl and brought her to Cantonment police station. She will be produced before CWC. The girl is only 16 years old and has passed her matriculation exam,” said a Childline official.

“We were informed that the marriage was being conducted without the consent of the girl. A mediator is the mastermind behind all this. He is trafficking young girls to UP by luring poor families,” he added.

In a similar incident, childline officials rescued a minor girl from a marriage reception party in Cuttack’s Khapuria area. Madhupatna police and childline officials alleged that the girl was under 18 and had married a youth a few days back.

The couple had organised a reception party when alerted childline officials reached the spot and rescued the girl.