The Chidambaram all-women police have arrested two Dikshithars of the Sri Sabanayagar Temple in Chidambaram for performing a child marriage.
The marriage was solemnised more than a year ago. The police arrested the minor girl’s father and secretary of the Pothu Dikshithars Association and the groom’s father on Saturday night.
The police said that on a complaint from R. Meena, Rural Development Officer of the Parangipettai union, the police conducted an investigation. Inquiries revealed that the girl, aged 17, was married off at a marriage hall at Chidambaram on January 25, 2021.
The police arrested the two Dikshithars and filed a case against them under Sections 9 and 10 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. They were produced before a local court and remanded in custody.
On information, about 30 Dikshithars, the hereditary custodians-cum-archakas of the Sri Natarajar temple, blocked the road in front of the temple to protest against the arrest. The police held talks with them and get them to withdraw the protest.
