The Supreme Court while hearing the Bihar minor marriage case on Wednesday told the Bihar Director General of Police and the Delhi Police Commissioner to make sure the teenage girl, who wants her marriage cancelled, is safe.
A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan noted the girl and her friend were scared for their lives. They have ordered authorities to contact them and offer help, according to news agency PTI.
The girl, claiming to be on the run with a friend, says, she was forcefully married on December 9, 2024, when she was 16 and a half. Now, her husband and in-laws are making her stay, complaining about wedding costs.
PTI reported the bench agreed to hear her case and asked the Bihar administration, her husband, and in-laws to respond by July 15.
Her plea states her in-laws would not let her return home, claiming they spent a lot on the wedding and wanted a baby. Her husband, a civil contractor, allegedly said her parents owed them money and she had to stay married instead of studying to become a teacher or lawyer.
She also claimed she wanted to study more but her father-in-law kept her confined, despite promising she could return to her parents.
Her petition, filed through a friend, states, “The present writ petition… has been filed through next friend by sixteen-and-a-half-year-old minor petitioner who is facing threat to her life for protesting against continuing in a child marriage solemnised under coercion against her wish to continue her education.”
The minor, however, said she was on the run with a friend and feared for their lives if they went back to Bihar.
“The petitioner is a hapless victim of child marriage who stands forlorn with no help from family and society in her fight to walk out of the abusive child marriage and hence pleads for invocation of the parens patriae jurisdiction of this court in the best interest of the petitioner,” the plea added.
The minor also said her parents forced her to marry a man around 32 or 33 years old six months ago. She was sent off right after the wedding, even though her Class X board exams were close.
She was reportedly told she had to return to her parents two days later.
“However, she was not allowed to return to her parental home by her in-laws who claimed to have given and spent a lot of money for the marriage and repeatedly told her that they wanted a baby. Her husband who is a civil contractor claimed that the petitioner`s parents were indebted to them and she would have to continue in the marriage rather than go for further studies to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher or a lawyer,” the plea said, according to the PTI.
Therefore, the girl asked for her marriage to be cancelled and for her in-laws and husband to be prosecuted under the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act, 2006.
She also asked authorities to ensure her and her friend`s safety.
(With inputs from PTI)