CHILD MARRIAGE VICTIM RESCUED IN BHARATPUR

An anti-human trafficking team of the police, along with the child welfare committee (CWC) of Bharatpur, rescued a 14-year-old girl, who was allegedly being forced by her father to go to her in-laws in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh.

The girl, who passed Class 7 this year from a government school in Bharatpur district, was reportedly married to a Class 9 student of Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh on last April 26.

“The girl told the CWC that she was married by her father against her wish. Her mother and other family members also protested against the marriage, but her father did not listen to them. Her two elder sisters were also married as minors by her father,” said Saroj Lohiya, the chairman of district CWC.

The girl contacted the child helpline officials on phone and they, along with the police, rescued her from her house on Friday.

Lohiya said the CWC will register a case of child marriage against the father and in-laws on Monday. The girl was sent to the CWC shelter home after a medical examination.

When contacted, the minor girl’s father said, “I am poor and unable to manage sufficient cash for marriage. Our relatives helped me to marry my daughter. I decided to marry minor daughter due to my poor health. Who would marry my daughter after my death.”

BHARATPUR:

The Lohawat assembly constituency was created after delimitation in 2008 including areas of Phalodi, Shergarh and Osian assembly constituencies.

In the two elections held after that — in 2008 and 2013 — BJP’s Gajendra Singh Khimsar has been elected from the seat on both the occasions. Khimsar is forest minister in the present state government, led by chief minister Vasundhara Raje and it is possible that he will seek the party ticket again in the coming elections.

Lohawat, which comes in Jodhpur district, is counted among the assembly constituencies where caste equations play important role. Rajput community voters dominate the constituency, followed by Vishnoi and Jat communities, which almost have equal votes. However, voters of Muslim, Kumhar and Suthar communities are capable of influencing the election results.

Khimsar, who hails from Nagaur district, was elected twice from the seat with the support of Rajputs. He was elected as the legislator earlier also in 2003 from the Nagaur assembly constituency. After the creation of Lohawat assembly constituency in 2008, Khimsar contested from the seat as an “external candidate”, but the voters did not disappoint him.

In both the elections, Khimsar defeated Malaram, a Vishnoi candidate, who fought as an Independent in 2008 and was later given the Congress ticket in 2013. After Malaram’s death, many candidates have been staking claim for the Congress ticket in the coming elections. Among them are candidates from Rajput, Jat and Vishnoi communities.

Lohawat is a desert area, where basic problems include saline water and lack of medical facilities. In the past, there was communal tension in the area after a conflict between two groups at Samrau village. Many houses and vehicles of one community were torched. The state government had announced a special package to offset the losses and restore social harmony in the area, but the issue is still vivid in the memory of local people, which may reflect in the coming elections.

District BJP president of Phalodi Revant Singh Rajpurohit said that all efforts were made to restore peace after the Samrau incident. “I do not think this (the Samrau incident) will be an issue in the elections,” he added. He said Khimsar has done a lot of Male total voters Female

Previous election

votes polled

Winner

GS Khimsar, BJP

Nearest rival

Malaram Vishnoi, Congress Win Margin: 19,814 votes

Besides the facilities of water and electricity, two panchayat samities have been created during his (Khimsar’s) tenure

REVANT SINGH RAJPUROHIT, Phalodi BJP president RAJASTHAN

development work. “Besides the facilities of water and electricity, two panchayat samities have been created during his tenure, so there is no antiincumbency in the area,” he said. However, district Congress committee (Jodhpur rural) general secretary Kishanaram Udani said, “The problem of saline water and lack of medical facilities are big issues. This time, mind of the voters is also changing and Congress will get the benefit of it.”

The problem of saline water and lack of medical facilities are big issues...mind of the voters is also changing, which will benefit Congress KISHANARAM UDANI, DCC (Jodhpur rural) official