Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): Anmol (name changed), a minor girl living at a village on the border of Odisha and Jharkhand, could never have imagined that the uncle to whom her mother had sent her to keep her safe would be the same person who would sell her again and again in the name of marriage. In fact, her uncle took her out of the state and sold her in the name of marriage in different districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Unable to bear the ordeal any longer, Anmol lodged a complaint with the Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline number 181. When the matter came to light, it led to the busting of an inter-state gang that was involved in human-trafficking. Six members of the eight-member gang have been arrested and search is on for the other two.
On August 8, the CM Helpline received a complaint from a woman of Naya Kheda village in Sagar district, Madhya Pradesh, that she was being physically abused by her father-in-law. This complaint was submitted by the CM Helpline to Childline 1098. When the people of Childline and personnel of the police special cell went to meet the woman, they found that she was actually a minor girl who was brought from Odisha and sold repeatedly in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the name of marriage. When the police investigated the matter, a gang involved in selling girls in the name of marriage.
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In Anmol's case, she was taken away from her in-laws' house and sent to a children's ashram. On being questioned, Anmol told the police that she was married off four times within a period of two years. She said that around two years ago, her mother had sent her to an uncle at her village. When the uncle first got her married, she did not know that money had been given in lieu of marriage. But, when she came to know about this, she ran away and lodged a complaint of child marriage, But the complaint was withdrawn under pressure from her mother and other family members.
Everything went well for a few days until the uncle again got Anmol married at another place. But when Anmol was harassed at her in-laws' house, she returned to the uncle again and this time he sent her to one Madhav Singh Lodhi of Patharia village in Damoh district, Madhya Pradesh. Madhav Singh first got Anmol married to a Jain family at Mehrauni in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh. But, after a few days, Anmol ran back to Madhav Singh and asked him to send her back home.
But Madhav Singh again got her married at Naya Kheda village under Banda police station in Sagar district. But when she reached her in-laws' house, she could not escape her father-in-law's eyes and ran away. A report was lodged at Banda police station but the minor Anmol was again sent back to the same place where the father-in-law used to molest her. It was then that an upset Anmol contacted the CM Helpline and lodged her complaint.
Additional SP Vikram Singh said that, after a thorough investigation, the police busted a gang involved in such crimes. The main accused Madhav Singh Lodhi is a resident of Patharia in Damoh district. A network of some people in Banda area involved in fixing such marriages came to light.
When the police caught the main accused and interrogated him, he admitted to committing such crimes at other places as well. In this case, six accused have been arrested by the police while search is on for two others.
