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KOLKATA: A headmaster of a school in Mathurapur , South 24 Parganas recently prevented the wedding of a Class-X girl of his school, overcoming initial resistance from her father.

But, headmaster Chandan Kumar Maity is still worried. “This is the fifth child marriage I have stopped this year and the 10th one in the last three years. All the girls who were being married off were students of my school,“ said Maity . He added, “Incidents of child marriage is on a rise in villages in and around Mathurapur.“ Against the backdrop of all the fanfare over the Kanyashree project, the local administration says it is stepping up awareness campaigns aimed at preventing child marriage.

This girl hails from Lalpur village in Mathurapur.The tip-off came from a chance meeting Maity had with one his former students during his regular morning walk on Sunday . As Maity walked from his Krishnachandrapur High School campus, where his quarters is also located, he met the youth. He told Maity that he had started a decorators' business and was heading to Lalpur for a wedding scheduled on Monday . When the youth told Maity the name of the bride, he came to know that she is his school's student, who has consistently maintained a good academic record and is scheduled to appear in next year's Madhyamik.

Maity later went to her place and told her father that he would inform cops if he didn't stop the marriage. The wedding was later called off.

