Minor Andhra girl calls women's police helpline, gets marriage cancelled

An alert minor from Andhra Pradesh who wanted to continue her education has managed to get her own child marriage cancelled, by making a timely phone call to the women's police helpline Disha three days before the ceremony was to take place.

The girl hails from Venkatapuram village of Kamavarapukota mandal in Eluru district, and the elders there had fixed the wedding for June 8 (Thursday).

"The girl said she does not like marrying now as she wants to continue higher education. So she made a call to Disha SOS and wept," a press note shared by the police department on Monday said.

Within five minutes of receiving the call, police from Tadikalapudi visited the minor's home. She complained that her parents had fixed her wedding against her wishes for Wednesday. The minor told the police that she had passed intermediate education, securing good marks, and would like to study at least up to graduation.

She promised to marry after completing her education, as directed by her parents. Later, police counselled the girl's parents that disrupting education midway is not good, considering her zeal and the good marks she secured in the intermediate exams.

Police drove home the message of education, following which the parents relented and cancelled the girl's wedding, promising to support her aspirations. According to police, the parents thought of getting the girl married off as they could not afford the cost of education.