UP: Minor girl's marriage stopped in Shahjahanpur; groom, mother arrested

Shahjahanpur (UP), Dec 8 (PTI) A 21-year-old man and his mother were arrested from a marriage hall here after he allegedly attempted to marry a minor girl belonging to another religion, a senior official said on Monday.

Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi told PTI that the incident occurred on Sunday night at a marriage hall in Chinour area, where a wedding ceremony was underway.

He said some members of a Hindu organisation reached the venue and created a ruckus, following which police rushed to the spot.

During preliminary inquiry, police found that the bride was a minor and a Class 9 student, while the groom was a 21-year-old man belonging to another religion.

"When questioned, the groom, who was wearing a 'sehra', identified himself as Sahib and said he was marrying a Hindu girl," Dwivedi said, adding that police also took the groom's mother to the police station along with the girl.

Quoting a report filed by sub-inspector Suraj Singh, the SP said the minor girl and her mother alleged that the girl had been lured and pressured into marrying Sahib, and that the marriage was being arranged with the support of the boy's mother.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case on Sunday night against Sahib, his mother Gudiya alias Nagris, one Qasim and some unidentified persons under Sections 87 (marriage against will) and 3(5) (offence committed by a group) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 3 of the Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, he said.

Sahib and his mother have been arrested and are being sent to jail, police added. PTI COR KIS DV DV