VELLORE: In the last six days alone, officials have thwarted 16 child marriages in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts. Experts say that total number of such marriages, including unidentified cases, could be much higher. The officials say they had to deal with stiff resistance and threats from local villagers and parents from whom the children were rescued. “We successfully foiled attempts to marry off three minors in Se Andapattu village in Tiruvannamalai,” say police and Childline officials.
“The teams swung into action based on information received by volunteers of One Stop Centre, who conducted an awareness programme in the village on child marriage,” says social welfare officer T Christina Dorthy.
Similarly, nine minor girls were rescued from areas such as Kil Pennathur, Chengam, Kalasapakkam, and Jamunamarathur block. One was a college student and the rest were school dropouts. Officials who went to rescue a 17-year-old girl from marriage in Erukkampattu were surrounded by the girl’s family. The rural welfare officer lodged a complaint with the police.
“We are following up on the action taken by the police on the issue,” says Vellore SW officer P Murugeswari.