Bhubaneswar: Childline officials with the help of BMC CDPO, Anganwadi supervisor and Khandagiri police rescued a 17-year-old girl when they foiled her child marriage from being solemnised at a Kalyan Mandap in Bharatpur here.
Sources said the girl was to be married off to a 29-year-old man from Kandhamal district. BMC CDPO Sasmita Hota directed Anganwadi supervisor Jhulana Sethi to stop the illegal act.
Sethi then arrived at the wedding venue along with Childline’s Harapriya Pati and Prashant Sahoo while the ceremony was under way. However, the bride’s family members stopped officials from conducting a raid and locked them up in a room. Khandagiri police then reached the spot, on being tipped-off, and rescued the officials and the minor girl.
The girl will now be produced before the Child Welfare Committe on Saturday, the sources said.
