Man ‘buys’ minor bride from Delhi for Rs 20,000

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Bride runs away from husband's home citing age gap after her mother slips away to Delhi

BY MEHUL JANI

» Bride runs away from husband's home citing age gap after her mother slips away to Delhi
» Husband, booked for rape, says he has been cheated as he was told the girl was 20-year-old
» NGO suspects it is a case of child trafficking as the man paid girl's mother for marriage

Childline volunteers spotted Rajesh Parmar’s
runaway bride at Kalupur railway station

Rescue of a minor girl at Kalupur railway station on Monday could lead the police and Childline to a case of underage marriage and rape in which the accused claims to be a victim of cheating. Adding to the intrigue, the Childline also sees in it a possibility of child trafficking. Childline, which found the 15-year-old girl Manju (name changed), has already lodged a complaint of underage marriage and rape with Sardarnagar police and asked it to look into the possibility of child trafficking. The girl, meanwhile, has been sent to protection house at Mahipatram Roopram Ashram.

The case unravelled after Childline volunteers found Manju (name changed) at the railway station and brought her to their office in Paldi. NGO's Assistant Director Purnima Gupta said when taken into confidence, Manju said she was 15-year-old and used to live at Sultanpur in Delhi with her grandmother Ratna and aunts after her step mother went to live with another man a few months ago.
Her father had died some years back. A couple of months ago, the grandmother came to visit her relatives in Sardarnagar in Ahmedabad while Manju stayed back in Delhi with her aunts. In April-end, her grandmother called her to Ahmedabad and on May 1 got her married to 31-year-old Rajesh Parmar, a vegetable vendor who lived in the neighbourhood. Ratna brought Manju back as part of social custom and about five days ago, she was sent back to her husband’s house, again as custom demanded.

‘BIG AGE DIFFERENCE’
However, Manju said she did not like the place. “There was a big age difference between us. Also, he used to harass me,” she told Gupta. On June 8 she left home and reached the railway station with a view to going to Delhi. That is when Childline volunteers spotted her. The volunteers located Parmar after a search and asked him to come over to their office. Interaction with Parmar and his mother Meera revealed another saga, pointing at possible child trafficking or cheating or both.

According to Meera, she and her son came in contact with Ratna while selling vegetable. It was the old woman who offered to marry Manju to Parmar who stammers and is hard on hearing. Ratna told them that Manju was 20. Ratna asked for money as she said she needed it to bring Manju to Ahmedabad. The Parmars claimed they paid her Rs 5,000. “She again demanded money to conduct the marriage.

This time we paid Rs 5000. After the marriage, she took Manju home following custom and when it was time to send her back to our place she asked for Rs 10,000 money, claiming that she had no money to send Manju back to her husband’s home with adequate clothes and other household articles as social custom demanded. It is the old woman and the girl who have made a fool of us,” Meera claimed. The old woman in the meanwhile left for Delhi. Childline has contacted Ratna and she has agreed to come to see Manju, Gupta said.

According to her, it could be a case of child trafficking, too. “We are not sure under which circumstances, but money has changed hands. We hope to get a clear picture when Sardarnagar police conducts the enquiry,” Gupta said.

Accused Rajesh Parmar and his mother Meera
claim that they have been cheated

A complaint of rape under IPC 376 was also lodged against Parmar. “We will also look into the possibility of child trafficking as Childline has suggested. A police team visited Mahipatram Ashram in the evening to speak to Manju, but it was asked to come again tomorrow (Tuesday),” Patel said.