The body of a 17-year-old “married” girl, who had been missing for the last three days, was recovered from a well in Maharashtra`s Beed district on Sunday, police said.
As reported by news agency PTI, the deceased`s body was found in Dharur tehsil.
Police, while briefing about the unfortunate incident, said that the girl was apparently married a year ago to a youth from a village in Wadwani tehsil.
According to PTI sources, she lived with her in-laws for the first six months of her marriage before returning to her parents` home in Kasari. The reason for her prolonged stay there was not immediately clear.
She went missing three days ago, prompting her father to file a missing person`s report with the Dharur police.
An official, while citing preliminary investigations, said that the girl was 17 years and 10 months old at the time of her death. This implies that she was 16 when she was “married” off a year ago, as per PTI.
If the probe confirms her wedding, a criminal case will be registered against both her parents and in-laws under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, the official further added.
He also highlighted, “The body has been shifted to Swami Ramanand Teerth Rural Government Medical College and Hospital in Ambajogai for a detailed forensic analysis to determine the exact cause of death,” as per PTI.
Beed: 9-year-old girl dies in accidental strangulation while playing
In a different scenario on March 31, a nine-year-old girl died after she allegedly got entangled in a swing and was strangled at her house in Maharashtra`s Beed district, her family said.
As per PTI, the incident occurred in Majalgaon town around 11 am when the victim, Vrinda Sameer Rudrawar, was playing on the top floor of her house, they said.
Vrinda was standing on a chair trying to reach the swing when the chair suddenly slipped from under her. In the ensuing fall, the rope of the swing coiled around her neck, strangling her, sources in the family said.
The tragedy came to light when the mother came to check on the girl and found her suspended by the rope. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival, they said.
(With inputs from PTI)