A social worker that The Telegraph called on Saturday morning for details on a child marriage that had been averted in Basanti block of the Sunderbans could not speak for more than a few seconds.

“Sorry, I’m racing to stop another child marriage in Jharkhali,” said Bunty Mukherjee, a member of Childline India Foundation in the Canning sub-division of South 24-Parganas.

He called back after a couple of hours to say the mission had been accomplished.

In the latest case, an 18-year-old youth in Canning had apparently befriended a 17-year-old girl in Barasat, more than 70km away, Mukherjee said.

At a time when parents are struggling to make ends meet, the girl in the house has turned into a pawn in some places.

Child marriages spike in lockdown around Bengal – The Telegraph