A group of social activists in Latur informed the police about the marriage, following which the police registered an FIR.
Maharashtra police has arrested two persons in connection with child marriage of a 13-year-old girl with a 24-year-old man in Latur district.
The girl, who belongs to Beed district, was married off to Praveen Yeltshette of Latur's Ausa. Gor Sena, a local group of social activists in Latur, informed the police about the marriage, following which the police registered an FIR against four people.
The groom, girl's father, uncle and aunt and others have been booked by the police under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The police have arrested Praveen Yeltshette and his relative Arun Yelshette.
Police have gathered more information about the incident by questioning the duo.
According to a report published last year, Rajasthan and Maharashtra record highest number of child marriages in the country. Of the 70 districts with the highest incidences of child marriages in India, over seven districts in Rajasthan have the most such among girls, while Maharashtra, with 14 districts, recorded the highest number of child marriages among boys.
The report, prepared by the National Commission of the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) with Young Lives, an NGO working on child rights, based on data from the Census 2011, the study looked at the lives of over 7 million boys and 5 million girls from across the 70 districts who were married before they reached the legal ages of 21 years and 18 years, respectively.
In Maharashtra, districts like Ahmednagar, Bhandara, Chandanpur, Dhule, Pune, Sangli, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Prabhani, Satara, Sindhudurg and Thane showed an increase in child marriage numbers between 2001 and 2011. Among these, Bhandara registered a five-fold increase in marriages among girls and a more than twenty-fold increase in boys' child marriage.
In Rajasthan, districts like Ajmer, Tonk, Rajsamand, Jhalawar, Bundi, Dausa, Alwar, Bhilwara, etc, showed an increase.
Earlier this year, a report by the UNICEF said that child marriage rates in India have had a significant reduction due to continued efforts being put in the country to abolish the practice.
UNICEF, however, warned against complacency and indicated that efforts need to be accelerated in order to totally abolish the practice by the year 2030.
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