Uttar Pradesh: Girls at Deoria Shelter Home Forced to Marry Disabled Men Under CM’s Mass Marriage Scheme
A police officer was quoted in the report saying that only eligible unmarried females from UP are covered under the scheme. The SIT has also found that two of the nine girls were already married.
Deoria, November 20: In a shocking incident, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday found that nine girls from the Deoria shelter home were forced to marry disabled men. Reports inform that nearly nine girls were forced to get married to men who were older and disabled and the money for these marriages was used from Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s mass marriage scheme fund between 2017 and 2018. According to a report by TOI, the UP police had formed a special investigation team after the Allahabad high court took suo motu cognisance of the sexual exploitation, torture and abuse of female inmates in the Deoria shelter home.
The report informs that the incident came to light on August 5 when an 11-year-old inmate escaped from the shelter home and managed to reach police to inform about the incident. On the same day, Deoria police held a press conference and exposed all the crimes across the state.
According to a TOI report, the SIT found that Girija Tripathi, owner of the Maa Vindyavasini Mahila and Balika Sanrakshan Griha shelter home, forced nine girls to get married. All the nine marriages were examined by the SIT and it was found that they took place under the UP government's flagship CM’s mass marriage scheme. Manju Verma, Ex-Bihar Minister Linked to Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case, Surrenders in Begusarai.
Under the probe, it was found that at least three girls from Bihar were married under the scheme in violation of state laws. A police officer was quoted in the report saying that only eligible unmarried females from UP are covered under the scheme. The SIT has also found that two of the nine girls were already married. Deoria Shelter Home in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur Another Muzaffarpur in Making? 24 Girls Rescued, Search for 15 Underway after Complaints by Inmate.
Apart from human trafficking, forgery and conspiracy, the SIT has charged Tripathi with criminal breach of trust and siphoning state funds. The report further informs that one girl was married to an older, physically challenged man without the girl being asked about her wish while another one was married to a blind man whose parents had allegedly paid a huge sum to Tripathi. According to details by SIT, Tripathi took Rs 5,000 of the Rs 35,000 subsidy per marriage that was part of the CM’s mass marriage scheme. The SIT found that of the Rs 35,000, another Rs 10,000 meant for utensils and sundries for the girls were never given.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2018 04:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).