Kota: An 8-year-old boy’s call to Childline 1098 Sunday helped stop the child marriage of his 8-yr-old schoolmate, scheduled for Akha Teej on Sunday night, officials said.“Bhaiya/Didi, please stop my friend’s marriage … she is very young … we play together, go to school … she doesn’t want to get married, she wants to study,” the boy told Childline officials, seeking urgent help.District Childline Coordinator Ramnaryan Gurjar and case worker Archana Meena rushed to the spot and found preparations underway for the Class 5 girl’s wedding. A 16-year-old girl was also at the venue and was to be married later in the evening.With help from Dablana police station SHO Priya Vyas, both minors were rescued and produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which directed that they be shifted to a shelter home.“The boy’s intervention is deeply moving, indicating his courage and sense of right and wrong helped stop a grave violation of children’s rights and motivated the child right protection activists, justifying the fruitfulness of the awareness campaign on child rights and against child marriage,” said Seema Poddar, chairperson, CWC, Bundi.In Bundi, the district administration stepped up action against child marriages. A judicial magistrate on Sunday issued four prohibitory orders in recent cases to prevent such weddings.In Bundi Sadar police station limits, two minor girls aged 16 and 17 were being married to youths aged 15 and 21. Tehsildar Arjun Meena intervened, leading to judicial orders that halted both marriages. The girls, students of Classes 11 and 12, were rescued, officials said.In another case, a Class 10 minor girl was to be married to a 28-year-old man. A prohibitory order stopped the marriage.Despite the crackdown, child marriages were reportedly held in villages a day before Akshya Tritiya. “The minor couples, set to be wed on Akha Teej, have already been married off a night earlier,” said a flower-garland vendor in Bundi, citing instances in Satur village.
