Monday, September 21, 2009

Minor girl rescued in Orissa

Press Trust of India, Sept 21, 2009

Bhubaneswar, Sept 21 (PTI) A minor girl, who was allegedly sold off to a man in Orissa's Rayagada district, has been rescued.

"We have rescued the girl from her village in Kalahandi district. She will be kept at a government-run short-stay home at Bhawanipatna," Kalahandi district magistrate-cum-collector R S Gopalan told PTI here.

Describing it as a case of "child marriage" and not sale of the girl, Gopalan said the officials had been asked to register a case under the provision of the "Child Marriage Prevention Act".

Meanwhile, sub-collector N K Sethi along with other government officials visited the village in Biswanthpur block and spoke to the local people to inquire into the case.

"Preliminary inquiry indicates that a 15-year-old girl was forcibly married off to an elderly person by her parents," Sethi said.

The girl's parents were poor and unable to maintain their five children, including three daughters.

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