Three child marriages stopped in Akhaura
The local administration stopped three schoolgirls from being forced into marriages in Akhaura upazila of Brahmanbaria yesterday.
The girls were aged between 13 and 15, but the grooms were all adult.
Assistant Commissioner (land) of Akhaura AKM Shariful Haque conducted the mobile courts on behalf of the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) and stopped the marriages.
The officer also took bonds from both sides. Parents promised that they would not marry off their daughters until they are 18, and their sons would not take any underage wives.
Shariful Haque said he conducted the drives upon information from VDP members.
He first went to Boro Bazar of Akhaura municipal area where a ninth grader, aged 15, was about to get married. From there he visited Kholapara Munshibari and Moniondo villages where the girls were class VII students and 13-14 years old.
The village defence party (VDP) members are trained to contact the respective UNO whenever a child marriage is about to take place, the officer said.
He also said, “I instructed the ward councillor and commissioners to keep a watch so that the girls cannot be married off secretly.”
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