Kolkata, July 22 (IANS) The police on Wednesday arrested a youth accused of forcibly marrying a minor girl in the Jorabagan area in north Kolkata. There are also allegations that he ran away with her after the marriage.
The minor girl was rescued from Salop crossing in Howrah.
Police took action after receiving a complaint of the incident. A case has been filed at Jorabagan Police Station, based on which the arrest was made.
According to officers at Jorabagan Police Station, a local man named Deepak Sharma filed a complaint of forced marriage of a minor. He is the legal guardian of the girl. He alleged that on July 19, a young man named Arman Alam, a resident of Jorabagan, abducted the 16‑year‑old girl and forcibly married her. Then he fled the area. After not finding the girl for a day and a half, Sharma approached the police and lodged a formal complaint against Arman.
Police investigated and rescued the minor from Salop crossing in Howrah district’s Domjur area. The accused, Arman Alam, was arrested from there. Police have filed a case against him under specific sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
After the minor was rescued, her physical examination was conducted. A confidential statement was also recorded as per the law. Police said their initial assumption is that Arman had planned to forcibly convert the minor and therefore eloped with her. However, before he could succeed, police arrested him and rescued the girl.
It is worth mentioning that ahead of Assembly elections in the state, central Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had repeatedly alleged that incidents like these were silently taking place in West Bengal. They claimed the demographic structure in Bengal was changing and expressed fear that the majority would gradually become a minority. BJP leaders had promised that such incidents would be stopped with strict measures if the party came to power.
–IANS
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