Fri Dec 20 19:04:00 UTC 2024: ## Chennai Police Investigate Child Marriage After Minor Gives Birth
**Chennai, December 21, 2024** – Washermenpet police have filed a case against five individuals, including the parents of a 17-year-old girl who was married off to a 20-year-old man. The case came to light after the pregnant minor delivered a baby girl at Kasturibai Gandhi Hospital. Hospital authorities, noticing the girl’s underage status, alerted the police.
Investigations revealed the girl, who had completed Class 10, met her husband, Dhanushkumar, a conservancy worker, through social media in 2022 and subsequently entered into a relationship. Despite initial objections, the families arranged a marriage in September 2024.
The police have registered a case under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, against the girl’s parents and her husband’s parents. No arrests have been made yet.
First Piper 