Special Correspondent
NewsBits.in
Bhopal: A widowed woman in drought-hit Tikamgarh district of MP reportedly sold off her 14-year-old daughter for Rs one lakh to repay her loans.
Though the woman is claiming that she married off her daughter, the minor girl’s maternal uncle – meaning the woman’s own brother had taken up the ‘sell-off’ issue with the police, sources said.
According to sources, Kashibai (single name being used to protect identity) of Mohanpura village in Tikamgarh district is a widow and since last four years her crops are being damaged due to vagaries of nature.
The family was reeling under loans and to repay that, Kashibai reportedly sold off her 14-year-old daughter to one Dharamdas Kurmi of Piparia Baroda in Sagar district, the girl’s maternal uncle Ganesh has said.
Kashibai is however insistent that she married off her daughter. Even minor marriage is illegal in India. The Tikamgarh district administration is inquiring into the matter.
Local police officials told media that team has been sent to Sagar to bring back the girl and only upon talks with the girl it would be clarified if she was sold off or married off.
