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TRIBUNE IMPACT
Sale, purchase of girls admitted
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 1
Haryana officials admitted today that the sale and purchase of brides were taking place in the state, adding that intervention by law-enforcing machinery could only bring limited success since it was a larger social problem.

“We got 124 such women interviewed on camera. Not even one of them was complaining about her situation”, Mr Rajender Kumar, SP, Faridabad, told TNS here. Mr Swaranjit Singh, IGP, Gurgaon Range, which includes Gurgaon and Faridabad, the two districts that have the maximum number of brides brought from outside, said that purchasing brides was not uncommon in the lower strata of society.

“These girls, who are brought from impoverished areas in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar etc get married here and there does not seem to be any coercion involved in that relationship. They are not forced into prostitution or any such thing”, the IGP said.

Even though a girl is sold off to her husband, consent is apparently given by the girl or members of her family to the marriage that prevents the administration from taking a serious view of such unions. According to the police, it swings into action when reports are received about under-age girls being kept as wives or wives being treated cruelly by their husbands.

Mr Rajender Kumar said the police had recently recovered four girls, who were from outside the state and married to local Muslims, and sent them to Nari Niketan at Karnal. All four were below 18 years.

Two other girls were recovered following a tip-off received by an SHO, Mr Rajinder Kumar said, adding that the police had tough time bringing them to Karnal since they wanted to stay with the persons they had married.

Mr Anil Malik, Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad, said the phenomenon of sale and purchase of brides was related to the skewed sex ratio in the state which was tilted vastly in favour of the male. “We are launching an awareness campaign in Faridabad where the practice is prevalent.”

Mr Anurag Rastogi, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, claimed he had so far received no official feedback about sale and purchase of brides in his district. 

Minor girl recovered

The Hathin police, along with a non-government organisation, Shakti Vahini, raided Chaiyyansan village and recovered 16-year-old Sabina Begum. The Tribune had highlighted the plight of the girl in its September 1 issue. The police also found Nabiran (14) of Bolai Kothan in Guwahati (Assam), who had been “married” here for the past one year. Since the girl has an infant, she was not taken away by the police though the Social Justice Department, Haryana, was informed and asked to take the girl. However, Mehboob, a resident of this village, who brings girls for sale from Assam, managed to escape along with 13-year-old Majida.