Being married forcibly, Class-12 girl takes parents to high court

CHANDIGARH : A Class-12 girl of a village in Ajnala of Amritsar district, who was allegedly being married forcibly by her parents by cutting her studies short, has dragged her father and mother to court.

Her marriage was fixed for February 22 and 23, but she fled the house of her relatives on February 18 where she was allegedly being held captive.

Acting on the petition of the girl, the Punjab and Haryana high court bench of justice Deepak Sibal on Wednesday put the mother-father duo on notice, along with the government and also asking the senior superintendent of police (rural), Amritsar, to take measures for her protection of life and liberty.

The girl, Charanjit Kaur, 19, of Kohala village, was to appear in her Class 12 examination from March 9, but her parents fixed her marriage for February 22 and 23. “When she protested, she was given a beating by her parents, who even threatened to kill her,” advocate Sandeep Wadhwan told the high court bench on Wednesday. The matter was listed for urgent hearing in the afternoon after Wadhwan requested the court for the same.

Wadhwan had told the court that the girl, a Class 12 student of humanities at a school in Ajnala was to appear in the examination from March 9 to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). She has also been issued the roll number for the same, the court was told.

The court was told that when the girl told her parents about her wish to not get married as she wanted to pursue her studies, she was dumped at a relative’s house, where she was not allowed to move out. But somehow the girl managed to escape from there on February 18 and reached Ajnala police station.

She came in contact with an NGO, Society for Women Empowerment and Green Cause, run by lawyer Navjot Kaur, the court was told.

Wadhwan submitted that police failed to give protection and when the girl approached the district and sessions court in Amritsar, it did not take up the matter, stating that the court does not have power to issue any such directions and it dealt with cases of runway couples only.

For now, the girl will stay with the NGO.

The matter will be taken up on February 28, by which various official respondents, father Hamesh Singh and mother Sukhwinder Kaur have been asked to respond to the allegations.

HER MARRIAGE WAS FIXED FOR FEBRUARY 22 AND 23, BUT SHE FLED THE HOUSE OF HER RELATIVES ON FEBRUARY 18 WHERE SHE WAS ALLEGEDLY BEING HELD CAPTIVE