The Pune Rural Police on Sunday stepped in and stopped the marriage of a 16-year-old girl with a 22-year-old man at a village in Shirur Taluka. The “Bharosa Cell” of the rural police, which provides counselling and aid to children, women and elderly people, received information on Saturday from Childline India that a 16-year-old girl was getting married at a village in Shirur taluka, which is around 80 km from Pune city. The wedding was scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon. Teams, led by Assistant Inspector Madhavi Deshmukh, who is also the in-charge of the “Bharosa Cell”, approached both the families. “We made them aware of the various legal implications of child marriage, including prosecution under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,” an officer said. Officials said that both the man and the girl belong to farmers’ families and the girl's parents had been under financial distress. “We convinced them that the family should wait until the girl turns 18, considering her future and well-being," the officer added. Presently, the legal age of marriage in India is 18 for women and 21 for men. Recently, the Union Cabinet has proposed to raise the legal age of marriage for women to 21.
