Mass wedding in Indore: Authorities find 36 couples underage

Indore: Authorities in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Friday stopped 36 underage couples from getting married, an official said.

A total of 49 couples were present for the mass wedding in Bachhoda village of Depalpur tehsil, said Mahendra Pathak, in-charge of the flying squad formed by the Women and Child Development Department against child marriage.

"We found that 36 couples were underage. The girls were 16-17 while the boys were around 20. We stopped the marriages by warning the organisers of legal action. The remaining 13 couple took part in the mass wedding event," Pathak said.

In India, the minimum marriageable age for men and women is 21 and 18 years as per the Child Marriage Prohibition Act 2006.

Violators can face rigorous imprisonment of up to two years or be forced to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.