Two families in Chennai were all ready to get a 15-year-old girl married to her 29-year-old uncle at Annai Velankanni church situated at Besant Nagar. The child activists were warned by an unknown source a day before due to which they were able to be there in the place. To avoid any recognition or suspicion, the activists were dressed as joggers. This was also to avoid any misinformation and to collect evidence about the fact that it was actually true.

“We stopped the groom from tying the ‘thaali’ around the young girl’s neck and began asking for their age proof,” an activist Enoch Moses told the media. “They didn’t have any valid certificates and tried to tell us that she was 18 years old. After much convincing, the girl told us she was only 15,” he concluded. The groom named Vinoth Kubendran is from Vyasarpadi while the bride and her family were from Thiruvenkaadu of Nagarkoil District.

The Sashtri Nagar police were immediately informed and the two families were escorted to the station. “I had informed the Committee about the tip-off I received on Wednesday night. But instead of alerting the police, they told us to go stop the wedding ourselves. Even at the venue, the police didn’t arrive till we called the DCP,” the activist said.

So what happened finally?