BALURGHAT: Tension ran high in South Dinajpur's Kumarganj, around 30 kilometers from here after police stopped the forced marriage of a minor tribal girl, scheduled to be held on Wednesday night.
Mijanur Rahaman, the supervisor of Childline, a local social welfare organisation of South Dinajpur working for distressed minor girls and women in the district and block officials accompanied the police in stopping the illegal act. The 14-year-old girl is a Class VIII student of a local high school, police sources informed. Later, the parents of the girl gave a written declaration to the police saying that they will not commit the mistake again.
The data manager of Kanyashree of Kumarganj Amit Karmakar and sub-inspector of Kumarganj police station Sanjay Rabi Das, along with a contingent of police force intervened, after being informed by Rahaman that the parents of the girl were all set to marry off their minor daughter to a local youth against her wishes on Wednesday night. Police said the local villagers were not initially inclined to lodge a complaint as they did not want the matter to become public. "The relatives and villagers tried to persuade the parents to desist from going ahead with the illegal marriage," Mondal said.
"However, their efforts went in vain and they had to contact the Childline," he added. Local villagers also thanked the initiatives that had been taken up by Childline.