DC exclusive: 14-year-old girl sold off to 46-year-old man in Krishnagiri
KRISHNAGIRI: In yet another shocking case of child marriage in Krishnagiri, a 14-year-old little girl was virtually sold off in marriage to a 46-year-old man as his third wife for a gift of three acres of land to her parents.
Shocking still, the latest victim of child marriage, Muniamma was married off to her friend’s father, Madhappan on July 9 at an obscure temple in Doddur near Anchetti in Dhenkanikottai taluk. Madhappan is thrice as old as Muniamma and about her father’s age.
“Our investigations reveal that the girl is a minor and has been forced into an illegal marriage and sexual relationship with the 46-year-old man. We will prosecute the man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,” said the district child welfare officer L.Vincent Sundarajan. The tale of Muniamma exposes the deep-rooted scourge of child marriages and poverty in the remote hamlets in Krishnagiri district.
When she was 11-years-old, Muniamma was forced to work in a textile mill in Erode district as a bonded labourer under the Sumangali scheme of providing advance for marriages.
Daughter of Uli Veerappa, a farm labourer at Kondangiyur near Anchetti, Muniamma worked in textile mills for the last three years. Suddenly, her father fixed her marriage with Munimma’s friend Nagamma’s father as he promised to gift three acres of land.
Following a tip off about the child marriage, the staff of the Child Welfare department rushed to Kondangiyur on Wednesday, to conduct enquiry. The team confirmed it was a case of child marriage.
