Hyderabad: Massive hunt for man who married minor

Hyderabad: Efforts are on to nab the 57-year-old man who "illegally" married a minor girl here following a conspiracy allegedly hatched by her aunt, the police said on Friday. Teams are on the job to arrest the man, who hails from Kerala, and a probe is on, they said.

Six people who were involved in the "illegal" marriage of the 16-year-old girl to the man were arrested on Thursday and the girl rescued, the police said earlier. The man, who was absconding after the marriage, was also booked for sexually assaulting the girl, they said on Thursday.

The girl's aunt, who had to pay some debts, hatched a plan to marry off the girl to the man after taking more than Rs 2 lakh from him recently, the police said.

The aunt conspired along with her husband, son, two agents and a qazi (who are among the six arrested) and got the girl married by submitting false documents to the qazi, who "illegally" performed the marriage, a release from the Hyderabad police said.

A cousin of the girl complained to the police on December 28 following which the six were arrested. Efforts were on to nab other accused who were absconding. After the marriage, the man had allegedly raped the girl at a lodge here. The girl was staying with the aunt, as her mother had passed away and her father remained paralysed, the release added.