Ranipet Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian stopped a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 25-year-old man at Kalmelkuppam village near Ranipet on Saturday.
The girl’s family was let off after her parents gave an undertaking that they would allow her to pursue education.
Officials said that around 7 a.m., Childline received a call about the marriage. After verifying the authenticity of the call with the police, a team, led by the Collector, rushed to the venue, where a large number of family members and friends gathered. The extent of crowd showed that the wedding was a planned one, officials said.
“We warned the families before we got the written undertaking from them. The neighbours, who gathered there, also assured us that such an incident would never happen in the neighbourhood,” Mr. Bhaskara Pandian said.
Kalmelkuppam is a thickly populated area with a low literacy rate. Walajah town has reported eight cases of child marriage since April 2021. Of the total 72 cases reported in the district since last April, Sholinghur accounts for the highest of 26 cases, followed by Arakkonam, 12, Arcot and Thimiri, 10 each. “The lowest number of cases reported in the district is Kaveripakkam, with 2. More awareness among residents is being created,” said P. Samraj, district coordinator, Childline).
G. Lokanayaki, project director, DRDA, and M. Prabhu, Deputy SP, were part of the rescue team.
