Daily Times

A 32-year-old woman married a 17-year-old boy in Madhya Pradesh, India, but the state’s Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has asked the marriage to be declared null and void, reported the Hindustan Times. The commission has written to the district collector of Singrauli. The teenager’s family accused the panchayat had forced the two to get married. The woman claimed that the couple was in a premarital relationship and she was pregnant with his child.

The head of the village, Balmukund Singh, said that the teenager’s family had previously agreed to the wedding, as the woman had threatened to lodge rape charges against the boy.  The boy’s family claimed that her marriage was fixed with a different girl. On the day of the ceremony, the 32-year-old crashed the wedding, claiming she was pregnant with the boy’s child.  When the matter reached the local decision-makers, the panchayat, they allegedly decided to marry the boy to the woman.

The panchayat also allegedly forced the boy’s family to allow the woman to live with them. According to the teenager’s family, the woman ran away with the boy a few days later.

“The father is unnecessarily blaming us for the marriage,” said the village head.

“It is illegal to solemnize a marriage involving a minor,” said SCPCR member Brajesh Chouhan.

“We have also asked the superintendent of police to recover the boy as the father alleged that he was missing and registered a case against the people who are responsible,” Chouhan added.