Two Intermediate students got ‘married’ in a classroom of their junior college in Andhra Pradesh's Rajahmundry city. The incident drew attention as the both were minors and a video of the boy knotting a thread around a girl’s neck was widely shared on social media. With the incident making it to the news, the government junior college where the students study, has reportedly initiated disciplinary action on the minors. Another student who accompanied them and shot the incident on a phone, was also pulled up.
The video, which is around one-minute long, shows the boy tying a knot around the girl’s neck in an empty classroom, even as another classmate can be heard asking them to hurry up, as others might come. The incident is said to have taken place earlier in November, and both the boy and girl, are studying Intermediate second year (Class 12).
The student who was shooting the video is said to have been the cousin of the girl. In the video, she directs the boy to apply 'bottu' (bindi) on the girl's forehead, a ritual that is part of Hindu weddings."Put the bottu soon before anybody comes, I am getting scared. Apply it properly," the cousin was heard saying.
As the video ended, she asked both of them to stand side by side, indicating preparation for capturing some photographs. According to reports, the College Principal has reportedly issued a Transfer Certificate (TC) to the students.
"Nobody knows who shared the video. They may have shared it with their friends and it spread to the media," a police officer who investigated the matter told IANS. The officer informed that the minors had convinced the watchman to get early access to the classroom. Child Welfare officials are likely to intervene into the matter and provide counselling to the students.
(With IANS inputs)