"Want To Study": Girl, 16, Approaches Supreme Court, Seeks To End Her Child Marriage
New Delhi:
A 16-year-old girl from Bihar approached the Supreme Court through her best friend, seeking annulment of her forced marriage under the Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006.
The teenager who recently appeared for her Class 10 Board exams had appealed the top court to protect her from her family and husband.
The petition has been filed on behalf of her by her friend Saurabh Kumar, who faces an FIR for kidnapping her.
The minor, however, maintains that Kumar helped her flee her abusive marriage.
The girl is said to be facing threat to her life for protesting against continuing in an abusive child marriage solemnised under coercion against her wish.
The plea states that her husband has been pursuing the case personally and has told people in Madhopur village that he would not mind going to jail after killing her.
"The Petitioner is presently on the run with a friend (Saurabh Kumar) and fears they would be killed if they returned back to Bihar or were apprehended in the hunt launched for them," reads her plea.
The plea seeks protection from any coercive action by police till the matter is finally decided by law.
The top court will hear the case on Wednesday.
According to the plea, the parents of the minor girl got her married on December 9, 2024 under coercion with a person aged about 32-33 years.
She was given a send-off immediately after the marriage ceremony even though her Class X board examination was round the corner, she claims, adding that she was assured that she would be allowed to return 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, the plea added.
The plea further states that 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.
Her husband, says the plea, used to beat the petitioner on a daily basis for refusing and resisting his attempt at a physical relationship.
She remained under severe stress while being abused mentally and physically till the second week of January 2025 when her maternal uncle persuaded the in-laws to allow her to return to her, the plea states further.
"She told her mother that she was being abused and wanted to study further but to no avail. On March 31, 2025, she left her home and sought help from her friend Saurabh Kumar who agreed to help her after much persuasion. Saurabh Kumar first accompanied her to Varanasi as per her wish and they have since been on the run after their location was traced," the plea states.
According to the plea her mother Pammi Devi lodged an FIR on April , 2025, before the Piplawa Naubatpur police station in Patna district concealing the fact that her daughter was married.
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