On Thursday, November 17, reports surfaced that the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district apprehended a 15-year-old Hindu girl and a 17-year-old Muslim youth, both residents of Bhopal. The duo were trying to flee to Sagar to get married.
Bhopal, MP: 15YO Hindu girl & 17YO Muslim boy eloped from Bhopal to Sagar for marriage. They took a wrong train, were stopped at Vidhisha, GRP Vidisha investigated & found the minor was 2 months pregnant. Child line sent the boy to Juvenile home & girl to Bal Kalyan Samiti bhopal pic.twitter.com/V4KmpmBakb
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) November 17, 2022
They, however, got down at the Vidisha railway station realising that they boarded the wrong train. The railway police, patrolling at the station, found the behaviour of the couple suspicious and based on that they detained the duo. On questioning, the police learnt that the minor girl was two months pregnant and that they were trying to elope to Sagar to the boy’s relative’s house where they planned to get married.
After apprehending the duo, the GRP ASI Manohar Singh Chauhan, head constable Shivraj Yadav, and several jawans called the girl’s mother. According to the mother, her daughter fled with the boy without the permission of her family members. At the same time, the boy’s family was well aware of the situation. During questioning, the boy revealed that he and the girl were travelling to Sagar to a relative’s house. His female relative was well aware of this as well. She had actually advised that he bring the girl to Sagar.
The Railway Police sent the youth to the Bhopal Juvenile Justice Board while the girl was sent to Bopal’s Child Welfare Committee.
Minor Hindu girl says Muslim boy and his family pressurised her to marry him
During a counselling session by Child Line, the minor Hindu girl revealed that the boy and his mother were forcing her to marry him. His mother told her, that she will get her son converted to Hinduism after marriage.
The girl also admitted to having known the boy for almost a year. The boy was a drug addict and involved in a myriad of illicit activities. The girl said that his mother emotionally blackmailed her by claiming that her son’s behaviour had improved since he met her. She pushed her to keep talking to her son. She also persuaded her to marry her son, claiming she would make sure he converted to Hinduism after marriage. “I felt forced to speak to him because of his mother’s insistence,” said the Hindu girl.
The girl then stated that the boy’s family relatives reside in the Sagar district. So they decided to get run away and get married in Sagar. According to the girl, they boarded the train and arrived in Itarsi. They caught another train to Sagar from there. They realised they had boarded the wrong train once they were on board. When the train arrived at Vidisha, the couple disembarked. The GRP stopped them and began questioning them when they were enquiring about the next available train to Sagar, stated the girl.
Deepa Sharma, a Vidisha Child Line counsellor, stated that the GRP police had informed them. During the counselling, it was learnt that the duo had been having an affair for a year. Both live in the same neighbourhood in Bhopal. The boy drives an auto and has previously been arrested for theft. He is also a drug addict.
The girl is the fourth in a family of four sisters and one brother. After her eldest sister’s marriage, her parents got divorced, and the brother moved in with the father while the three girls stayed back with the mother. The girl’s father runs a tea stall while the mother works in a hospital.
Deepa Sharma, the ChildLine counsellor, further stated that the girl’s mother was usually on the night shift. Taking advantage of the situation, the boy began to visit the girl’s home. The girl’s sisters also lived there, but they said nothing to the mother nor did they object. When the mother found out about their affair, she had the girl examined. It was then that the family discovered she was two months pregnant with the boy’s child.
