more-in RAMANATHAPURAM A week after stopping five child marriages, Childline and Social Welfare department officials have stopped as many as eight child marriages, scheduled to take place in different places in the district on Wednesday, even as a 32-year-old assistant at the BJP district office managed to marry a 13-year-old girl. On being alerted through Childline helpline ‘1098’, the officials, with the help of anti-human trafficking squad and local police, started visiting the houses of prospective child brides since Tuesday morning and rescued them after stopping their marriages in various blocks. After stopping a child marriage near Aranmanai here, involving Karthik, 32, BJP district office assistant, the officials rescued the 13-year-old bride and produced her before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), when her grandparents threatened to commit self-immolation and took away the girl. Later, they conducted her marriage with Karthik, officials said. The girl had no parents and she was under the care of her grandparents. The Social Welfare department lodged a complaint against the girl’s grandparents and Karthik at Kenikarai police under the provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. In another case at Tharakudi near Sayalkudi, a 15-year-old girl, studying class X, was to be married to Sivasamy, 40, when the officials stopped the marriage and rescued the girl. They also stopped the marriage of another 15-year-old girl, studying class X, with Balamurugan, 25, at Pappanakottai near Thiruvadanai. . They stopped the marriages of a 16-year-old girl at Nilamalangi Mangalam near Thiruvadanai with Kalaiarasan, 32, and 17-year-old girl with Kanagaraj, 33, at Pandiyur. At Kamarajarpuram near Naripaiyur, the officials stopped marriages of 17-year-old girl with Raja, 31, a 16-year-old girl with Thirumurugan, 33, at Sathankudi near Kadaladi, and 16-year-old girl, studying class XII, with Jothi Ramalingam, 36, at Moolakaranpatti, near Kamudhi. The officials also stopped the marriage of a 16-year-old girl at a fishing hamlet near Pamban with Antony Clive, 25, from Kunthukal. The Social Welfare department has stopped 50 child marriages since January this year.

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