call helped stop – The girl’s father signed an affidavit canceling the marriage and waiting until his daughter reached legal age to get married. (Symbolic image) A 16-year-old girl in Bengaluru was about to get married to a man almost twice her age when her boyfriend made a phone call that changed everything. The girl’s family had quietly fixed her marriage with a 33-year-old man by booking a marriage hall in the city for May 11.

Faced with her mother’s kidney failure and family’s expectations, the teenager was emotionally pressured to accept the marriage. She shared Vikas with her boyfriend. She called a pro-Kannada organisation, which reported the matter to the urban district child protection office.

Officials arrived at the family home on 7 May, four days before the scheduled ceremony.