Three Child Line agencies, two from Tamil Nadu and one from Kerala, carried out a joint operation to prevent the marriage of a 15-year-old girl with a 23-year-old man in Palakkad.

Child Line Palakkad, Udumalpet, and Coimbatore were the agencies involved.

“Originally it was the girl’s older sister who was supposed to marry the youth. But she eloped with her lover. The girl’s family, as a compromise and in order to save their face, decided to marry off their second daughter to the groom,” I. Angeline, Child Line Counsellor from Coimbatore, shares.

Narrating the chain of events that took place, Angeline says that the girl, whose name she does not wish to reveal, called Child Line Palakkad and told them of her marriage with the 23-year-old Coimbatore-based youth. When the volunteers of Child Line Palakkad rushed to the girl’s residence in Palakkad, they were told that the family had left for Udumalpet. The desperate girl this time called the Udumalpet Child Line and briefed them about her plight. She told them that she had just written her Class X exams.

The Udumalpet Child Line swung into action immediately. They got in touch with Child Line Palakkad and located the youth who was going to marry the under-aged girl. The 23-year-old youth, a resident of Seeranaickenpalayam, was questioned by Child Line Coimbatore counsellors. He admitted that he was unaware that the girl who he was to marry was minor. As a precaution, Child Line Coimbatore obtained in writing from the 23-year old youth that he will not marry the girl until she is major. The minor girl is currently living with Child Line Palakkad.

When officials from Child Line Coimbatore interacted with the girl, she admitted that she was aware of Child Line and their activities through her school. She told the counsellors that at the government school where she studies, regular workshops on child marriage, sexual abuse, and child labour are organized.