Chhath Puja celebrations turned out to be homecoming for a 17-year-old girl, who was abducted 11 months ago and forced into marriage, after her sister noticed her here and called up the DCW helpline.
The Delhi Commission for Women's, in collaboration with the Delhi Police, rescued the girl yesterday from Sultanpuri area, according to a DCW official.
The official said, the accused, after marrying the girl, had kept her in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district.
The accused brought her to Delhi a few days ago, where she was noticed by her sister during the Chatt Puja celebrations, the official said.
The girl's sister got to know about her location and called up the DCW's 181 women helpline, following which the victim was rescued.
A case has been registered about the abduction of the girl in the Sultanpuri police station, he said.
The girl stated that she was lured by the accused's elder sister from her neighborhood 11 months ago. The elder sister and her husband confined the victim and took her to Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, the official said.
They forced her to marry the accused. The victim also stated that she was sexually abused, he said.
She also told the DCW counsellor that whenever she would plead her captives to allow her to go home, they would tell her that they will permit her, once she has a child.
The victim gave birth to a child in Hathras, who is now two-months-old, the official said.
She was brought back to Sultanpuri area where she met her sister during the Chatt Puja celebrations and narrated her ordeal, he said.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal ordered a mobile helpline team to rescue the girl.
The DCW's team, alongside the Sultanpuri police, reached the accused's house and rescued the girl. The accused has been arrested, the official said.
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