In a shocking incident, a woman tried to sell her 13-year-old granddaughter in Pamarru town in Krishna district. The girl is studying in Class VII in the Zilla Parishad High School here.
According to Krishna District Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Department Project Director (PD) N.V. Raghava Rao, as the girl’s father abandoned her mother, Lakshmi, the girl was staying with her maternal grandmother Guna Sundari. The old woman works as a cook in a house, while Lakshmi works as an ayah in a hospital in Vijayawada.
Guna Sundari, in a planned manner, performed the ‘engagement’ for her granddaughter with a youth working as a mason a few days ago and tried to send the girl with him. The girl then escaped from home and alerted her relatives who approached the WD&CW officials. The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) officials led by Mr. Raghava Rao rescued the girl with the help of the police on Saturday. They counselled Guna Sundari and Lakshmi. No police case was registered, said the PD.
The grandmother said that she was in severe financial trouble and decided to perform the girl’s marriage for which the bridegroom’s family was ready to pay Rs.10,000. The PD said that Guna Sundari’s version was not believable as she was giving incoherent answers. “The girl appeared for her class seven examinations recently and expressed her willingness to continue studying. We will produce her before the Child Welfare Committee and admit her in the Government-run home,” said Mr. Raghava Rao.
