The police also arrested the cleric, alleging that despite knowing that she was a minor, he had performed the marriage ceremony. (Representational Image) The police also arrested the cleric, alleging that despite knowing that she was a minor, he had performed the marriage ceremony. (Representational Image)

A SPECIAL court rejected bail to a religious cleric who had officiated at the wedding of a minor to a 40-year-old man. The cleric, who has been behind bars since May last year, claimed that as the girl was behind a veil at the time of the wedding, he did not know whether she a minor or an adult. The mother of the minor and her ‘husband’ are also arrested in the case.

According to the prosecution, the 13-year-old minor was forcibly married to the accused. The girl was being physically and sexually abused by the ‘husband’, the prosecution told the court. When the girl got an opportunity to come out of the house, she informed her neighbour about her ordeal. The neighbour called the police who arrested her mother and the accused ‘husband’.

The police also arrested the cleric, alleging that despite knowing that she was a minor, he had performed the marriage ceremony. “The accused had acted in routine and casual manner without following law of marriage,” the court observed, while denying bail to the cleric. It further said that the particulars of the groom were with the cleric and he would also have required to fill the details of the minor, at which point, he could have come to know about her age.

The special court has booked the accused under charges including sections 376 (rape), 366 (kidnapping) and other sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The girl is currently in a custodial home with an NGO.

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