Koraput/Bhubaneshwar, July 27: A minor girl got her father arrested for trying to marry her off in Nabarangpur district. He is Phagunu Panaka of Kohorakat, a village 70 km from Nabarangpur. The groom's father, Khagapati Das and two others, Kamdev Panka and Baidyanath Panaka, were also nabbed on Wednesday.
The 16-year old girl had lodged a complaint against her parents and few members of her community at the Jharigoan police station on Monday alleging that she is being pressurized to marry. "I want to continue my studies. Though I am a minor, my father and few other community members are pressurizing me to get married. They have fixed my marriage with one of our relatives from Umerkote I don't want to get married now," read the police complaint lodged by the girl.
Jharigaon police said the girl had unsuccessfully appeared this year's HSC examination and lost her mother recently. "We verified the school certificate and found that the girl a little over 16 years old. We stopped the marriage preparations and took custody of the girl's father and three of their community members," said SDPO (Umerkote) Ashok Kumar Sahu.
"We also arrested the groom's father from Umerkote. We are searching for five others whose name figure in the FIR. The arrested persons were produced in court and has been sent to jail," he added.
The girl has been lodged at Belgam sevashram as she wished to continue her studies. Officials said stringent action will be taken against persons involved in the child marriage in the district under Juvenile Justice Act.
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