Ahmedabad: A city sessions court in Ahmedabad has convicted a couple for forcing their two nieces into child marriage. However, the court did not sentence them to jail and instead ordered the couple to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation to the girls for the hardship caused to them.According to the case details, two minor sisters who had lost their parents were married off by their paternal aunt and her husband in 2020. The younger sister, who was just 14 at the time, was married to a 17-year-old boy. The elder one was 17-years-old at that time. A child rights activist, Arvind Katpara, brought the incident to the notice of the authorities, following which an FIR was registered at the Mahila police station (East).Nine persons, including the girls’ aunt and uncle, the grooms, and their respective parents, were booked under provisions of the Pocso Act, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.Since one of the grooms was a minor at the time, his case was transferred to the juvenile court. The girls’ aunt and uncle were also booked for human trafficking, as they were accused of selling the sisters by accepting Rs 50,000 from the grooms’ families.Additional public prosecutors D M Thakor and K G Jain examined 23 witnesses and presented 56 pieces of documentary evidence during the trial.Special Pocso Judge A B Bhatt acquitted all the accused of Pocso and IPC charges, giving them the benefit of doubt. However, the court found the victims’ aunt and uncle guilty under Section 11 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.The court noted: “Knowing that there was a possibility of an offence under the Pocso Act occurring against the victims, the accused couple arranged child marriages for the girls and sent them to their in-laws. Even though the victims were of a tender age and their development could be hindered, both the accused committed this crime despite being aware of it.”However, while deciding the sentence, the court cited provisions of Section 11 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, which state that a woman cannot be sentenced under this law. The court observed that the paternal aunt was primarily responsible for arranging the child marriages, while her husband’s liability was lesser.“However, to teach the accused a proper lesson, they should be ordered to compensate the victims so that they do not repeat the offence in future,” the court said.The court granted them the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act and let them off with a rebuke.The court also ordered the government to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation to each of the victim girls.
