Five booked over marriage of minor tribal girl in Maharashtra’s Palghar district

Palghar, Oct 3 (PTI) The police have registered a case against five persons in connection with the marriage of a minor tribal girl from Maharashtra’s Palghar district, an official said on Friday.

The case was registered at the Wada police station on a complaint by the 16-year-old girl, who belongs to the Katkari tribal community. The accused persons include her husband, aunt, uncle and an agent.

The girl lost her father a few years ago. Her mother then married another man, while the teenager went to live with her grandmother. However, she too passed away within two months, the official said.

The agent paid Rs 50,000 to the girl’s mother and took the teen to Ahilyanagar district, where she was forcibly married at the age of 14. After the girl became pregnant, the accused made a fake Aadhaar card and got her admitted to a hospital in Wada, the official said, citing the complaint.

When she delivered a baby girl, she was allegedly harassed and her mother was told the return the money, the official said.

The accused have been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections concerning rape, human trafficking and harassment, as well as under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. PTI COR NR