JOIN USThe mass marriage programme was organised by former minister B Sriramulu’s Fans Club at Vidyadan Committee’s playground in the City.
Of the 750 pairs, who were betrothed at the programme, 98 pairs are suspected to be minors, according to the State Child Rights Protection Commission member M R Mamatha.
Deputy Commissioner S Shankarnarayan, Zilla Panchayat CEO Veeranna Turamari, Department of Women and Child Development deputy director and others were present at the function, she added.
Addressing mediapersons, Mamatha said through preliminary examination it has been ascertained that 200 pairs had just attained the legal age of majority.
In order to register oneself at a mass marriage, furnishing a medical certificate is a pre-requisite. However, most of those registered at the programme here have furnished fake certificates. Moreover, in an attempt to show numbers, organisers of mass marriages register people without probing their antecedents, she added.
All the participants at the mass marriage have been directed to submit the requisite documents within 20 days, said Mamatha.
Last year too, the State Child Rights Protection Commission had investigated into the betrothal of 31 minor pairs at a mass marriage and submitted the report to the State government. As a punitive measure, the doctor, who issued fake certificates to minors, should be fined Rs 10,000. Also the increment of the erring doctor should be withheld, she said.