The Child Marriage Prevention Officer (CMPO) of Kalikavu on Wednesday moved the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Manjeri seeking an interim injunction against nine child marriages proposed to be conducted soon in Karuvarakundu grama panchayat in the district.
The court will hear the petition on Thursday.
K. Savitri Devi, CMPO of Kalikavu in charge of Karuvarakundu, confirmed that nine of the 10 potential child marriage cases reported by a Childline team the other day were under-age girls. When three of them were studying in class 10, the others were Plus One students.
She could not gather information on the 10th child as she was studying elsewhere. Ms. Devi brushed aside the allegations levelled from certain quarters that she had not acted on the case in time.
“For us, rumours or oral information will not be just enough to move a court of law to prevent a child marriage. We have to confirm the birth date of the girl and produce evidence before the court,” she said.
Parents of all the nine girls denied the proposed marriages. However, she could confirm from other sources, including neighbours, that the marriages were fixed. However, some of the girls agreed that their marriage was being arranged during the summer vacation.
Most of the parents even refused to give the birth date of the girls, she said. Ms. Devi had to gather proof of their birth dates from their schools. She said she would seek the help of the police if the parents did not cooperate or abide by the law.
There were many cases in which child marriages were prevented by court injunctions. In a single order that created history of sorts, Judicial First Class Magistrate of Nilambur K. Aneesh Chacko had stalled 12 child marriages in Moothedam panchayat in October last.
