A 40-year-old man, identified as a Mahendra Pandey, has been arrested for allegedly forcefully marrying a 11-year-old girl in Bihar's Siwan, the police said on Sunday, 30 May.
According to a complaint by the girl's mother, Pandey coerced her daughter into marrying him because she could not pay off the money he had loaned her.
The Quint is trying to access a copy of the mother's complaint, and this story will be updated once we receive it.
Pandey has been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by Mairwa Police, agencies quoted Siwan Superintendent of Police Shailesh Kumar Sinha as saying. He added that the girl has been sent for medical examination.
Reports also claim that Pandey was married to another woman before he forcefully married the 11-year-old.