Kidnapped and sold for marriage, 16-yr-old girl in MP rescued after 4 months

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly abducted from Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh in March was rescued four months later from a village 310 km away in Sagar district of Bundelkhand region, police said Monday.

Her mother had earlier alleged that the police did not act on her original complaint and that it was only because of the efforts of two social activists that her daughter could be traced.

The police of Sagar and Mandla in a joint operation Sunday evening rescued her from one Bahadur Yadav’s house in Dhwara village of Sagar district, said Deepak Shukla, superintendent of police, Mandla.

Police also denied the charges of inaction on its part. An FIR was registered against one Anita Yadav, a resident of Dhwara village at Bichhia police station in Mandla under section 363 (kidnapping) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) after the girl was rescued. The decision to add the names of Bahadur Yadav and other members of his family in the FIR as accused and additional IPC sections would be taken after recording the girl’s statement, said the SP.

The girl’s mother said, “I lodged a complaint with Bichhia police four months back and told the police that Anita Yadav abducted my daughter but police didn’t act.”

“I waited for 20 days but nothing happened. Police personnel used to tell me to wait till this lockdown got over. Somebody shared my ordeal with Vivek Pawar and Prashant Dubey, two social activists and they started the search. I am grateful to them. I am fortunate to have my daughter back and alive. Otherwise a few girls who went missing from our village and nearby villages were never traced, she added.

Prashant Dubey said they did not have any clue except the name of Anita. They eventually found out that she was from Dhwara village in Sagar district.

In the last week of April, Dubey and Pawar asked some local youth to conduct a survey related to Covid-19 in the village and find out secretly if any new girl came to anybody’s house. But that exercise drew a blank until recently.

“We had lost all hopes when one of the youths who had conducted the survey came to know from a villager that in April one Bahadur Yadav had solemnized the marriage of his son Halle with a girl and didn’t inform anybody about it. A local youth helped us keep an eye on the house and found out the girl was present in that house and that she was in very poor condition and moved outside under the strict vigil of the family,” Dubey said.

Dubey alleged that the girl was sold for ₹25,000 by Anita Yadav, a resident of Sagar, to Bahadur Yadav whose 19-year-old son Halle Yadav married her.

He said after the girl’s identity was established, they informed inspector general of police (crime against women) Deepika Suri and Mandla SP Deepak Shukla.

SP Deepak Shukla said, “After the social activists informed us a special team was formed and sent to Sagar to rescue the girl. The girl was rescued safely but members of the family escaped from the house. The woman Anita Yadav is also absconding. We are trying to nab the accused.”