Kathmandu: Police have cracked down on a criminal network facilitating marriage between a Nepali minor girl with a Chinese national.
The network was cracked down after police arrested the suspects in Sunsari district as they attempted to arrange the marriage of a 16-year-old girl from Chhathar Jorpati-2 in Dhankuta with a 33-year-old Chinese man, Li Teng.
According to the police, the racket had lured the girl to Chatara in Sunsari for the marriage.
The arrested include the girl’s father; 33-year-old Li Teng; 43-year-old Deepak Darji from Belka Municipality-9, Udayapur; 42-year-old Badrivikram Rai from the same location; 20-year-old Sital Gurung from Putalibazar-12, Syangja; and 20-year-old Roshnimaya Tamang from Roshi Municipality-3, Kavrepalanchok. Two other Chinese nationals, 35-year-old Dong Shihao and Wu Heji, were also arrested.
Superintendent of Police Suman Timilsina said that authorities intervened as the group was coercing the minor into marriage under false pretenses. The father of the girl, who is financially struggling, agreed to the marriage, hoping for a better future for his daughter, said police.
The motive behind the Chinese party’s interest in the marriage is still under investigation, with the police suspecting potential links to human trafficking.
The Sunsari District Police are further investigating whether this network has previously arranged other marriages and sent young Nepali girls to China under similar circumstances.
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