Udupi: Minor flees home to escape torture
Bellevision Media Network
Udupi, 06 April 2011: A seventeen-and-a-half-year old girl from Bangalore said on Tuesday that she had been forced to marry her maternal uncle a year ago though she was a minor and was being tortured by her husband. Addressing presspersons here, she said that she was pursuing first year pre-university course at a college in Bangalore when she was forced to get married to her maternal uncle Anantha (29), in Mandya on March 3, 2010.
Though she had told her parents that she did not want to get married but to study, they got her married to her mother’s brother. After marriage, she approached the Assistant Commissioner at the High Grounds Police Station in Bangalore and sought help. In the meantime, her parents had lodged a missing complaint because of which the police handed her over to her parents.
Her father Lingaraju M.B. is a clerk in a chartered accountant’s firm. Her mother, who is dominating by nature, has been in favour of her marriage. The teenager said her husband stays in her parents’ house and works at the photocopying shop run by her mother Rathna L. He is an alcoholic and would beat her ruthlessly whenever she resisted him from assaulting her sexually.
To escape torture, she fled Bangalore soon after completing her second pre-university course examinations on March 28. She went to Dharmasthala and stayed there for about three days and then went to Kundapur. When she was thinking of committing suicide, someone told her she could get help from social worker Radha Das. So, she met Radha Das and shared her experience with her and expressed the desire to stay back at Kundapur, pursue studies and find a job for livelihood.
Ms. Radha Das, who is also the president of Kundapur Taluk Mahila Mandilagala Okkoota, said the teenager has marks of torture on her body. She said she would approach the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Women and Child Welfare Officer and other authorities to decide on the future course of action to be taken with regard to the young girl.
- The Hindu
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| Philip Mudartha, Qatar | Thu, April-7-2011, 12:05 |
| I will quote the statement "Her mother, who is dominating by nature, has been in favor of her marriage" and say women are the worst enemies of other women, even in a parent-child relationship . Shame on such mothers! We do not need dominating but enlightened women, for our society to change for the better. | |
| Therese Dalmeida, Moodu-belle/Doha | Wed, April-6-2011, 3:23 |
| Surely one should appreciate the courage of the teenage girl.I hope the women and child abuse department will take adequate action and assure the safety of the girl.Domestic violence is on the increase day by day, and God knows better how many thousand of cases are under reported. | |
| John Alva, Udupi / Dubai | Wed, April-6-2011, 10:16 |
| The courage gathered by the girl at the age of 17 is to be appreciated. Well done, it is better to live independently rather than living like an animal in a marriage for the society sake. | |
| Raghav, Bangalore | Wed, April-6-2011, 9:56 |
| Human Rights Commission and Women and Child Welfare department need to look in to the matter very seriously and those who made her to suffer need to be brought to justice. Her Husband and parents are certainly having the danger of going to jail for illeagal marriege and tortures. | |
| Antony Menezes, Shirva | Wed, April-6-2011, 3:52 |
| It is good that the Mahila Mandali is helping her. The authorities need to give her protection and help her in her future course of action. | |
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