Kochi: The District Child Welfare Committee has asked the father of a 13-year-old girl, whose engagement was cancelled recently following its intervention, to produce the girl and her two siblings to record their statements.
“We spoke to the girl's father only as her mother is indisposed. He sticks to his stance that it was wrong for the girls to be sent to school or even allowed out of the house.
Now we’ll record the statement of the children on Monday before deciding the future course of action,” said committee chairperson Padmaja Nair.
The family, originally from Mumbai, is settled in the city and is running a business enterprise for the past several years.
The committee would try to counsel the family to ensure that the girl is properly educated and that her marriage would be conducted only after she attains 18 years of age.
"We cannot take a decision without speaking to the children. Their security is our primary concern. We have asked the father to bring the children on Monday," she said.
Childline officials with the help of the Palarivattom Police had stopped the engagement ceremony of the 13-year-old girl on Wednesday last just minutes before the function was about to start at their Kaloor house.
