Parents marry off minor girl from TN to businessman who offered Rs 12L !

, Oct 31: Here is shocker - A

girl from Salem in Tamil Nadu was allegedly sold to a businessman for Rs 12 lakh !

The girl studying in Class X in a government-aided school in Salem was married to the divorcee from Cuddalore who paid the money to her parents on October 12.

A TOI report said that the incident came to light when the girl's mother complained to the Childline, an NGO working against harassment of children, seeking custody of her daughter. The mother has now filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras high court for the girl to be produced in court.

The report says that the marriage was solemnized in the presence of local leaders and families of both sides in Pennadam in Cuddalore district. The 14-year-old girl is the eldest daughter of her parents. The girl's husband Babu is the son of a local politician.

He befriended the girl's mother who is an advocate and later, threatened to commit suicide of the the parents don't get the girl married to him. It was only after the marriage the parents found out that the man had a two-year-old son from an earlier marriage.

the TOI report quotes the girl's mother: "He offered a property worth Rs 12 lakh and we could not withstand the pressure and agreed to the proposal".

When the Childline activists contacted the girl she said that it was her parents who sold her to the man. The report says that the girl did not show any sign of distress when Childline activists visited her in-law's house. "As we had no proof to suggest she was a minor, we left," Cuddalore district social welfare officer R Bhuvaneswari told TOI.

However, the girl's mother sent the girl's birth certificate to officials and they rescued her with the help of police.

Oneindia News