Hassan/ Mysuru: A girl who was saved from the clutches of child marriage on Dec 1, 2024, by the Belur taluk administration in Hassan district, has secured a distinction in II PUC exams.Mamatha MA scored 510/600 and is now aiming to become a bureaucrat. KAS officer M Mamatha, who played a key role in stopping the child marriage, said the girl, a student of Govt Girls High School and PU College, Belur, was a resident of D Devaraj Urs hostel when child marriage was attempted. “I used to visit hostels, especially girls’ hostels, during my tenure as tahsildar of Belur. My frequent interactions with the other girls helped Mamatha reach out to me,” she said. According to the officer, who is currently serving as the tahsildar of Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru district, Mamatha’s parents were forcing her to get married to an older person – a maternal relative. “The marriage was fixed at a Shani Mahatma temple near Battenahalli. The girl took my number from the hostel authorities and called me up, requesting me to protect her. I rushed to the spot with the police and stopped the marriage,” the official recollected. “When I rushed to the spot, she hugged me and cried, saying she didn’t want to get married,” the officer further said. “Now she is saying that she doesn’t want to think about marriage till she lands a govt job,” she added. Children’s home inmate secures first classYashaswini, an inmate at Govt Children’s Home for Girls, Chamarajanagar, has cleared the II PUC final examination with a first class, scoring 423 out of 600. “She is an all-rounder. She is the captain of the district girl’s kabaddi team,” said district child protection officer Manjula. “Her dream is to pursue CA,” she said. “Staff at the children’s home supported her studies,” manjula said.
