TN child marriage victim attends school hiding mangalsutra

A class 10 girl student of a school near here got married a year ago and was attending classes all along hiding her marital status by concealing her mangalsutra in her dress.
A victim of child marriage, prohibited under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, the girl got married when she was only about 14.
An anonymous petition was submitted to the Mahila Court here and following the plea, action was initiated by the District Social Welfare Officer and subsequently a senior official today inspected the girl's school.
Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority and District Judge Mahizhendhi today inspected the school, and spoke to the girl and her class mates, DLSA sources told PTI.

The girl, a resident of a village near Arani town which is about 60 km from here is studying in a Government Higher Secondary School in the hamlet.
Though she was married, she did not disclose it and continued to attend classes as usual. She was found concealing the mangalsutra in her dress, the sources said.

The petition seeking action has been forwarded to the DLSA and Secretary of the Authority, K Rajmohan has sought a report from the Social and Child Welfare Committee officials in this regard.
The Social and Child Welfare officials have been asked to explain on how the child marriage took place and steps taken following the complaint.

The report will be placed before the DLSA tomorrow and appropriate legal action, including criminal prosecution, will be initiated against those responsible for the marriage, the sources said.
Last year, a girl in Tiruvannamalai district had thwarted her underage marriage by informing authorites.
N Nandhini, now a class 10 student, hailing from a village near Arani received an award from the the state government last month for boldly taking steps to halt her marriage in july 2017.
She called up the Tiruvannamalai District Collectorate and apprised authorities that she was being forced to marry a man.
Following the information, authorities swung into action and her wedding was stopped. She was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and the girl is now a resident of a children's home.

Nandhini received Rs one lakh cash prize and a citation from Chief Minister K Palaniswami in a function on the occasion of National Girl Child Day last month.
Tiruvannamalai district is among the regions from where attempts to perform child marriages have been reported in the recent past.