In a strange and ill-logical incident in Madhya Pradesh, a tribal girl is said to have been forced to marry a muslim boy despite resistance from the girl and her parents. What is even more shocking is the fact that ministers and officers from the state were present in the marriage event. It is learned that the motive of the officers behind getting this marriage done was to meet the targets of the Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana, a state level programme started by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and ruling party BJP's leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

According to a report in the Hindi news online portal Jansatta, the motive of the officers behind getting the adivasi or tribal girl hitched to the Muslim boy was done only to meet the "target" of getting a 1,000 marriages executed. The Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana has made it compulsory for the district administration to get 1000 marriages done under their watch.

The mass wedding ceremony was held in Ramnagar district on Thursday, April 26 and has come to light after local news reports about the incident. The ministers present during the marriage ceremony were Sudarshan Bhagat, Member of Parliament from Mandla seat Fagghan Singh Kulaste, Rajya Sabha MP Sampatiya and District Collector Sufia Farooqi. News 18 website claimed that the girl's parents were not happy with the marriage but had to give in to the pressure put on them by the officers. Reports claim that the ministers and officers even celebrated the marriage(s) by dancing at the event along with the relatives of married couples. There have been reports in the past about the irregularities and wrongful methods adopted by the state administration, just to meet the target of 1000 marriages.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 28, 2018 10:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).