In the state capital of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, five persons have been detained for encouraging child marriage and human trafficking, according to the police. The arrests were made after women and child welfare department officials prevented the marriage of a 12-year-old tribal girl with a 27-year-old man on June 27 in a village under Gunaga police station limits near Bhopal, police said on wednesday. According to police, the girl’s parents had sold the girl for Rs 40,000 and received an advance of Rs 20,000, with the remaining amount to be handed over to them after the wedding. “We received information from the Women and Child Development Department about a child marriage in the Gunaga police station area on Monday (June 26), after which we arrived at the location and saw that the “haldi” ceremony was taking place,” said Superintendent of Police (SP, Bhopal Rural), Kiranlata Kerketta. After further investigation, it was discovered that the girl was 12 years old and her future husband was 27.
According to SP Kerketta, the youngster told police that her parents had fixed her marriage for Rs 40,000 and had ignored her concerns. The police officer indicated that more investigation into the situation is ongoing and that if any brokers were discovered to have been involved, prosecutions would be filed against them.