The minor girl was about to get married to a 24-year-old man residing in Solapur
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Authorities have foiled a family's attempt to marry off a 16-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said on Wednesday, PTI reported.
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Pune's child welfare department office received an anonymous call, following which authorities in Thane stopped the marriage ceremony in the Ulhasnagar area on Monday.
The minor girl was about to get married to a 24-year-old man residing in Solapur, PTI reported.
As per PTI, after being alerted, the child welfare committee officials in Thane immediately rushed to the venue where family members from both sides and guests had assembled for the wedding ceremony, Thane district child welfare officer Ramkrishna Reddy said.
After halting the ceremony, the officials held a meeting with the parents of the girl and the man.
During questioning, they revealed that the girl's father was seriously ill and hence, the family wanted to get her married at the earliest, the official said, PTI reported.
A case has been registered against the groom, both their parents, the priest who was conducting the ceremony and others under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, he said.
The girl has been lodged at a remand home, official added, PTI reported.
Bombay High Court allows victim of child marriage to get her pregnancy terminated over foetal abnormalities
The Bombay High Court has permitted a teenager, a victim of child marriage, to undergo medical termination of her 28-week pregnancy on the grounds of foetal abnormalities.
A division bench of Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar in its order of April 12 also noted that the girl was 'HIV seropositive'. A copy of the order was made available on Thursday.
The 17-year-old girl had filed a petition in HC seeking permission to get her pregnancy terminated saying scans had shown that the foetus had skeletal anomalies with the possibility of genetic abnormalities.
Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, a court nod is required to terminate a pregnancy beyond 24 weeks of gestation.
The high court relied on a report submitted by the medical board of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune that recommended termination of the pregnancy as the girl is a minor and a victim of child marriage with 'HIV seropositive status'.
The board in its report said the foetus also has multiple defects.
The high court said it was allowing termination of pregnancy taking into account the mental and medical situation of the girl.
(With inputs from PTI)
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