CG News: Balod district administration claims to be making the district child-marriage-free and is receiving praise. Meanwhile, a family in the district married off their minor son to an adult girl from Rajnandgaon district. It is reported that the marriage took place two months before the boy reached the legal age. The district administration and the Women and Child Development Department were unaware of this.
The Women and Child Development Department says that the marriage of a boy aged 20 years and 10 months took place at the girl’s home in Rajnandgaon, so it occurred there, not in Balod. The district administration and the department are hiding their failures, but it is true that there has been an administrative lapse here.
After the matter came to light, a team from the Women and Child Development Department reached village Bharritola. The marriage was stopped before the ‘Tikawan’ ceremony at the boy’s home and declared null and void. Now, the marriage will take place again after two months. It is reported that by then the boy will be eligible for marriage.
According to villagers and the Women and Child Development Department, the boy is currently 20 years and 10 months old. He will become an adult in two months. The young man went to the bride’s home on Tuesday-Wednesday night, performed seven circles, and filled the bride’s hair parting with vermilion, completing the marriage rituals. After this, he brought the bride to his home.
To prevent such incidents, the Women and Child Development Department and district administration provide special training, which includes Anganwadi workers, village heads, secretaries, and others. When the boy’s marriage was fixed, the Anganwadi worker allowed it based on the Aadhaar card, but a dispute arose after it was found that the age in the school enrollment register was lower. The department is unable to clarify whether the training includes checking the enrollment register.
The District Women and Child Development Officer Sameer Pandey said that this marriage of the young man and woman has been declared null and void. The bride has been safely sent back to her home in Rajnandgaon. He appealed to people to marry only when the boy is 21 years or older and the girl is 18 years or older. Child marriage is a crime and can lead to punishment.
On Wednesday morning, after information about the marriage surfaced on social media, the matter escalated. Following this, the Women and Child Development Department team declared the marriage null and void. The police and department team sent the bride back to her parental home in Rajnandgaon.
The Women and Child Development Department team asked the groom for his Aadhaar card, which shows his date of birth as June 13, 2002, while the school enrollment register shows June 13, 2005. The date of birth recorded in the enrollment register is considered valid.
SDM Suresh Sahu, Women and Child Development Officer Sameer Pandey, and Child Protection Officer Gajanand Sahu counseled both the boy’s and girl’s families. A panchnama and consent letter were filled. It was decided that after two months, when the boy becomes eligible for marriage, the bride will be brought from her parental home and the marriage will be performed.
