Minor's marriage averted

SIDLAGHATTA (CHIKKABALLAPUR): Timely intervention by the child welfare department and Mahila Sahaya Vani of Sidlaghatta averted the marriage of a 14-year-old girl with a 55-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh, at Kariyappanahalli near Talakayalabetta hills here.
The marriage was to be held on Thursday. When the rituals were in progress at the bride's house on Wednesday evening, Sidlaghatta child development project officer (CDPO) R Prakash Kumar and M Vijaya, president of Soundarya Trust, Chintamani, which runs Mahila Sahaya Vani, rushed to the village and halted it.
Vijaya said she got information about the marriage on Wednesday afternoon. She immediately alerted the child welfare department authorities and sought police assistance to stop the marriage. Along with police personnel from Dibburahalli, they rushed to the house of Mastan Sab, where preparations were in full swing for the marriage of his fifth daughter Shahida (name changed).
The groom was Peer Sab from Gopavaripalli near Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh.
Mastan told the authorities they were driven to it by poverty, and that he was not aware of the rules regarding child marriage. Mastan Sab and his wife Fathima, who also have a 10-year-old son, were brought to Dibburhalli police station where they gave an undertaking that they would not go ahead with the marriage.
Prakash Kumar told TOI they had been convinced about the ill-effects of child marriage. Vijaya also assured Mastan that if the situation arises, Mahila Sahaya Vani would take care of Shahida.