Bhiwani man buys minor bride from Odisha for ₹2 lakh, arrested

VICTIM TOLD POLICE THAT HER UNCLE

SOLD HER TO ACCUSED SANDEEP FOR

₹2 LAKH, SAYS SHO

ROHTAK :A Bhiwani man and his mother have been arrested for buying a minor bride from Odisha for ₹2 lakh and keeping her hostage for two months, police said.

The incident came to light when the minor girl in an attempt to escape the accused’s confinement jumped from the second floor of his house and injured herself. She was spotted by a neighbour who informed the police.

Bhiwani women police station SHO Nanhi Devi said the victim told them that her uncle brought her to Haryana on the pretext of seeing a relative, but sold her to accused Sandeep and his mother Shakuntala for ₹2 lakh.

SHO said the victim also informed that the accused then forcefully married her at a local temple and since then had been keeping her hostage at his house.

The victim further stated that the accused had been sexually assaulting her from past two months, SHO said.

Based on her statement, police arrested Sandeep and his mother Shakuntala. They have been booked under sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. Police said they have also launched a hunt to arrest the victim’s relative who sold her.

Bhiwani child welfare committee president Subhash Jindal said they were providing counselling to the victim.

“She is getting treatment for her injury and is being counselled so we can get more information about the case. The girl cannot read Hindi so she was

tricked by her own uncle, the elder brother of her father. We are trying to find more details about her family,” Jindal said.