An IAS officer in Tamil Nadu has become the target of Islamic parties who are on a warpath against him for stopping a marriage of a 17-year-old girl to a 36-year-old man. The dynamic district collector of Perambalur, Dr Darez Ahamed, is the one who has earned their wrath.The confrontation with the collector has taken religious overtones with the Islamists accusing the IAS officer of transgressing into the personal law of Muslims. "Transfer him," is their demand.Hours before a marriage was to be solemnised on June 25, authorities stopped it and took the bride and the groom - Shahul Hameed of Periya Ammapalayam and Euresha Begum of Arumbavur - along with their parents to the police station. The reason: The girl has not yet attained the age for marriage.Later the groom was remanded to custody while the bride was sent to a government home for women by a judicial magistrate. This action followed a directive from Ahamed, who has thus far prevented over 110 child marriages in this district.Restless Islamic outfits staged a protest in front of the Collectorate at Perambalur last week to condemn 'interference' into the affairs of the minorities. They had a conclave at Chennai to chalk out further steps."When we told the collector that Shariat sanctions marriage for girls once they attained puberty, he countered us that the same law has laid down to sever limbs for theft and so on and asked whether we would do all that," said A K Haneefa, one of the organisers of the protest. Citing a recent Delhi High Court judgment which quoted the Shariat on marriageable age for girls and rejected a mother's plea to retrieve her daughter, he maintained that the wedding which was stopped was perfectly legal."Officials are ignorant about Islamic Law. They could not deny the community of its personal law. This is a serious issue," says Prof Khader Mohideen, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) state president.But, Ahamed remains unmoved. "The Child Marriages (Prevention) Act 2006, clearly states that those under 18 years could not get married as they are considered children. The law is common to all," he said. "After taking charge in this district, I have prevented 112 child marriages. I am myself a doctor with an MBBS and I know at what age a woman becomes physically fit to conceive and deliver a healthy child. This is a backward district where there is a high incidence of mortality during childbirth which requires the statute to be implemented with seriousness," he explained.Official sources said the collector had issued a circular to all schools to inform the administration of girls leaving school after 9th class or parents seekingtransfer certificates of their daughter to keep a tab on child marriages.Asked about the present instance, he said that he had acted as per law and the parents could approach the judiciary if they felt aggrieved.