A young woman from Bengaluru in the Indian state of Karnataka is facing charges for marrying a minor she met through Facebook. The police registered a case against the 20-year-old woman under the Child Marriage Act after she married a 17-year-old at a temple on June 16.
According to Times Now News, the woman decided to marry her teen lover despite her family’s opposition.
The teenage boy, who comes from a village in Chikkamagaluru, had claimed to be 21 years old and agreed to tie the knot with his enamored BSC Nursing student girlfriend. The marriage was said to have been solemnized at the Antaraghattamma temple in the presence of the boy’s relatives.
News of the illicit wedding spread, which brought the matter to the attention of authorities. A local resident had alerted the child helpline prompting officials from the women and child welfare department to conduct inquiries in the village.
Chikkamagaluru police were later informed and they booked the woman along with the boy’s relatives who attended the ceremony.
Chikkamagaluru SP Hakay Akshay Machhindra said: “They [boy’s relatives] have been booked as well under the Child Marriage Restraint Act and the couple is living separately.”
In a separate incident, a 23-year-old woman was arrested by the Gujarat Police for allegedly abducting a 17-year-old boy. Police said the teenage boy was reported to have gone missing from Anand on May 25. Members of his family rallied up a search for him but failed to locate his whereabouts which brought them to register a complaint with the police who lodged a case on the basis of abduction against unidentified person/s.
Authorities initiated an investigation which led to the boy’s rescue from Surat. The woman had abducted the teen and took him to Surat under the pretext of a solemnized marriage between them. Investigations revealed the accused had also sexually assaulted her minor victim right after abducting him. She was arrested and charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Another incident was also reported just nearly 10 days prior about a woman who was also arrested for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in the Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. The accused woman’s husband and his family members allegedly tried to extort money from the minor’s family. They threatened to frame the boy in a rape case of the woman if they refused to pay up.
