Schoolgirl foils forced marriage

A fifteen-year old girl from Dhunat in Bogra, managed to prevent her forced marriage, threatening to commit suicide.

The girl is a tenth grader and lives with her mother in a village of Kalerpara union in the upazila. Her father died in 2004 and mother is a primary school teacher.

Two years ago, a 32-year-old cousin proposed to marry her. The girl and her mother rejected the proposal.

Though the girl and her mother strongly opposed the marriage, her cousin and his family arranged a ceremony to marry the girl on Monday evening.

The 32-year old man with a host of relatives went to their house and started insisting on marrying her. The girl then locked herself up in a room. The groom and his father tried to break into the room.

The girl then threatened them to commit suicide and prepared to hang herself from the ceiling.

Local union parishad chairman and others tried to persuade her not to take her life. They also informed the upazila administration about the incident.

Dhunat upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Razia Sultana, and officer-in-charge of Dhunat police station Mizanur Rahman rushed there and rescued the girl and also foiled the forced marriage.

The mother of the girl lodged a case with the Dhunat police station on Tuesday accusing the groom and his parents.

Police have taken the girl in their custody. They arrested the mother of the groom and sent her to jail through a court. The groom and his father are on the run.

The mother of the groom said, “She’s the daughter of my brother-in-law and this is why I wanted my son to marry her,” adding that the locals foiled the wedding over enmity.

The fifteen-year old girl alleged that her cousin has been teasing her for two years. Her mother claimed that it was a forced marriage and she did not support it.

They tried to marry her daughter for the property, she said.

UNO Razia Sultana said, “On information, I instantly foiled the marriage of the schoolgirl with the help of the police and took legal steps against the accused.”

Dhunat police station OC Mizanur Rahman said, “We’re trying to arrest the groom and his father.”

Source: Prothom Alo