According to a Pune rural police, an Armyman was arrested on Friday under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act for allegedly marrying a 15-year-old girl. A Baramati police station official said that the 31-year-old accused of Bijapur in Karnataka, has also been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexually assaulting the girl.
Army man Arrested for marrying Minor girl
He further added, “The father and grandmother of the girl forcibly took her to Bijapur and got her married to the accused in April last year. The girl approached the police recently and narrated her ordeal. Her father and grandmother have also been booked under the Child Marriage Act.”
The soldier, who is a Naik in the Army, has been arrested and sent to the police custody till February 3.
According to the complainant, the soldier is her distant relative and he had expressed his desire to marry her to her father. Assistant inspector Ashwini Shendge said, “The girl’s father was in favor of the marriage while her mother was against it as the girl was only 15 at the time. However, the father and the grandmother were adamant about the marriage. The girl wanted to study further and didn’t want marriage.”
According to the complainant, her father and grandmother forcefully took her to Bijapur in April 2019, where they for forcefully performed the marriage between the minor and the man. “The girl was forcefully kept at his house in Bijapur for few days after the marriage. It was only after the mother of the girl went to Bijapur that the girl managed to escape from there and returned to Pune. Since then, she has been staying with her mother,” Shendge said.
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