States » NorthPosted at: Oct 14 2026 6:52PM


16-year-old girl rescued ahead of wedding to 50-year-old man in UP

Sambhal, Oct 14 (UNI) A 16-year-old girl was rescued in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district after her marriage to a 50-year-old widower, fixed in exchange for Rs 5 lakh, was stopped ahead of the scheduled wedding on October 15.
The girl’s family had accepted the money for the marriage, according to Prayatna, a partner organisation of Just Rights for Children (JRC), India’s largest NGO network working for child protection.
The wedding preparations were nearly complete, and the ‘haldi’ ceremony was scheduled for October 14 when a joint team of police, local administration, and Prayatna intervened.
The team discovered rituals were already underway at a house where the girl had been brought.
As authorities arrived, her family members fled, leaving the girl behind.
The house belonged to a middleman involved in arranging the marriage, who also managed to evade the police, while his wife and children were at the premises.
The girl was later rescued and taken to a One Stop Centre, with further legal action currently underway.
Gaurishankar Chaudhary, project manager at Prayatna, noted that the prospective groom was a widower.
“This is not just a case of child marriage. There is also an element of trafficking as money was exchanged for the marriage. No child should ever be treated as a commodity. Every girl deserves the chance to grow up, continue her education and decide her own future, rather than have her life determined by a transaction,” he said.
Prayatna, a partner of Just Rights for Children (JRC) works with more than 300 partner organisations across 782 districts to protect children from abuse, trafficking and child marriage.
In her statement to the police, the girl revealed her family had brought her to the location under false pretenses and that she had no idea a marriage was being arranged for her.
She realised what was happening only after reaching the premises, where wedding preparations were already underway.
Confirming that the ‘haldi’ ceremony was set for that day and the wedding procession was expected on October 15, she expressed relief after the intervention, saying, “You arrived just in time and helped me immensely.”
Nakhasa station house officer Sanjay Kumar and outpost in-charge Ravindra Chaudhary acted promptly upon receiving the tip-off, successfully preventing the wedding.
UNI MBD RN
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