Two temple priests, who allegedly got their son and daughter -- both minors -- married, were detained by the Hayathnagar police of Rachakonda on Friday.
Alerted by a tip-off from Balala Hakkula Sangham, the police rushed to a centre being run by a religious organisation and where organising religious rituals was taught at Hayathnagar and caught the parents.
“We learnt that the newly-wed minors were brought to the centre to stay there for the night. Then, we informed the police,” Achyutha Rao of BHS said.
Hayathnagar police said that Ramesh Kumar Sharma, working as priest in a temple at Vemulawada, had agreed to give his daughter's hand in marriage to the son of Anjaneya Sharma, priest in a temple at Banjara Hills, a few weeks ago.
The girl and boy were in ninth and tenth standards respectively.
“We were told that the two priests believed that performing child marriage had brought fortunes in their families earlier. Through some mediators, they fixed the marriage alliance,” Mr. Rao said.
They performed the marriage on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday at a temple in Banjara Hills. The Hayathnagar police detained both priests after Hayathnagar Child Development and Protection Officer formally lodged a complaint with them. A case under Section 10 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act-2006 was registered against them.
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