Bengaluru Police said it has arrested the 46-year-old husband and parents of a 14-year-old girl on charges of child marriage in Yelahanka New Town of Bengaluru. They are also on the hunt for the priest, who conducted the marriage. The accused husband has been identified as N Guruprasad, a landlord from Chikkabettahalli.
The 14-year-old, a school dropout, has been sent to the custody of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and is presently kept in a government shelter for women in Wilson Garden of Bengaluru.
Police explained that the accused Guruprasad had lured the parents of the girl with money. The parents of the girl are daily-wage laborers. The parents told the police that they have three daughters and poverty forced them to marry their 14-year-old child off to the 46-year-old man. Guruprasad had convinced the parents to marry their daughter to him for 15,000 rupees.
The incident came to light when the girl broke down before a PG (paying guest) facility owner, where she came to work with her aunt. The girl told him that she had been married to a 46-year-old man at a temple. The owner of the PG then informed the police. Police said that Guruprasad's wife had left him years ago and he had no children. After seeing the girl and the plight of her poor family, he approached the parents through an elderly woman.