Prayagraj. The Allahabad High Court stated that marriages based on false documents are leading to human trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labour. Making this scathing remark, the court directed police officers in many districts to conduct a detailed investigation and register an FIR against those preparing fake documents.
This order was passed by Justice Vinod Diwakar bench while hearing protection petitions of couples from Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Mainpuri and Aligarh who got married against the wishes of the family. The court directed senior superintendents of police of all districts to carry out a detailed investigation of those who provided fake documents to all the couples, register an FIR against them and submit the report on the next date.
Earlier, the court had asked the government for the verification report on the documents of the said petitioners. During the hearing of the cases, in the report submitted by Additional Chief Advocate Ashwani Kumar Tripathi and State Judicial Officer OP Singh, it was said that the marriage certificate, Aadhar card, mark sheet and age certificate submitted along with the petition are false. The names and addresses of the petitioners and respondents have been wrongly mentioned in the petition. Furthermore, in many cases the age of the girls was 12 to 14 years old.
The court expressed concern about the information provided by the government. He said the court is in favor of the young man’s independent decision about marriage, but is against those who demand security on the basis of false documents. The court said that in the name of religious trusts, an organized gang of middlemen has flourished around the district courts. In addition to priests, it also includes legal professionals.
The local police also fail to trace the origin of the fake marriage certificates to save such people. Taking advantage of this, couples even obtain protection orders from the court based on false documents. These organized crimes are harmful not only to society but also to the future of young people. Children often get caught in these traps and become victims of emotional and psychological trauma.
