Amofoi fined 2L for minor marriage

CUTTACK: The Orissa high court on Monday fined a social organization Rs 2 lakh for solemnising the marriage of a minor girl.
"The division bench of Justices M M Das and A K Rath ordered Amofoi (Anti-caste Marriage and One Child Family Organization of India) to donate the money to chief minister's relief fund," said a lawyer.
The direction came in the wake of a petition filed by the girl's father Amulya Jena of Dhenkanal.Jena had filed a habeas corpus in the high court, alleging that his minor daughter was kidnapped and forcibly married to an older boy by members of Amofoi. The marriage was solemnised by secretary of the organisation B Ramachandra CST Voltaire on March 26, 2013.
As the lawyers of high court are on ceasework stir, both the parties appeared personally before the court and made their stand clear on the issue. The petitioner informed the court that the date of birth of his daughter is June 2,1995, and at the time of marriage she was a minor, but Ramachandra and his organisation solemnised her marriage forcibly.
Ramachandra said the girl was in love with the boy but her family was against the match as he belonged to Scheduled Caste. "The girl had eloped with the boy and came to me seeking help. My organisation supports inter-caste marriages so we helped them tie the knot. Later in July the couple did a registry marriage too," Ramachandra said.
However, the court after verifying the records found that the girl was a minor at the time of marriage and ordered the organisation to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh to CMRF.