Tribals stage protest over 'police negligence' in child marriage, trafficking cases

Palghar, Oct 21 (PTI) Hundreds of tribal men and women from Palghar and Thane districts of Maharashtra staged a silent protest on Tuesday, alleging police negligence in probing trafficking and child marriage cases involving minor girls.

Protesters, mostly from the Katkari community, wore black masks and held up large banners as they demonstrated outside the Wada police station.

In a memorandum to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the tribals claimed that "minor Katkari girls were being sold through brokers and married off to non-tribal adults".

The memorandum noted that girls as young as 12 to 13 years old were being trafficked or married off, often due to poverty and ignorance.

It demanded fair and speedy investigation into such crimes registered at Wada, Kasa, Jawhar, Ganeshpuri, and Shahapur police stations and strict legal action against all brokers, organisers, and accomplices involved in the offences. PTI COR ARU