In a case of alleged human trafficking, a 17-year-old tribal girl from Jajpur district in Odisha was reportedly sold and married off to the buyer in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, which happened two weeks ago, came to light when the girl’s family, who hails from Sukinda Chromite Valley, filed a complaint with the Kaliapani police station on Tuesday night.
According to the police complaint, the victim’s family alleged that a friend of the girl lured her away on July 27 with the promise of a pilgrimage and sightseeing trip to Madhya Pradesh.
However, they instead sold her to a man who intended to marry her, according to the FIR.
The family, in the police complaint, alleged that the day after arriving in Madhya Pradesh, the victim had called her parents over the phone and informed she was alright.
But around a fortnight later, the family found out that she had been sold and married, with her in-laws allegedly paying money to buy her, the family alleged in the FIR.
The girl sent some photographs and videos of the marriage to one of her friends in the village.
Acting on the complaint, police registered a case and initiated an investigation. Suprasanna Mallick, Kalinga Nagar Additional Superintendent of Police, said that the two accused sisters are under the police scanner.
“We are taking all steps to nab the culprits,” Mallick said.
