13-yr-old girl married off under UP govt scheme, 5 booked

PILIBHIT: Five people were booked in Pilibhit after a 13-year-old girl was married off during a mass wedding ceremony - called '934 weddings'- held under the UP govt's 'Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojana' in the city on Jan 27, police said.
Pilibhit DM Sanjay Kumar Singh said on Thursday that records of the wedding scheme under the district's social welfare department would now be thoroughly scrutinised and "strict action initiated against those found responsible".
Police said the matter came to light after the class VIII student's mother, Sheetal Devi, who lives in Bareilly with her two other kids, filed a complaint to the SP, Avinash Pandey, against her late husband's two brothers, their wives and another person on Wednesday. A case was registered under IPC sections 34 (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act against the five of them.
In her police complaint, the woman stated: "I used to stay away from my husband as he was an alcoholic. On Dec 20 last year, the accused persons reached Bareilly to see my minor daughter as she had sustained a fracture in her leg. They then took her with them."
She added: "My husband, Rakesh Kumar, died recently. When I visited the village for the last rites, I came to know from neighbours that my daughter was married off in Jan... The accused had forged her documents to hide her age. They also received Rs 35,000 in cash, out of Rs 51,000 earmarked for each marriage which, under the govt scheme, should have been deposited straight into the bride's bank account."
District social welfare officer, Chandra Mohan Bishnoi, meanwhile, said, "Under this scheme, the village development officer and village panchayat secretary are usually assigned the task of verification, but official directions seem to have been flouted in this case. The matter is being looked into."