A 12-year-old girl was allegedly sold by her own mother and stepfather for Rs 12 lakh in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, with police confirming the child was subsequently raped by at least three men over several months before the case came to light through counselling.

A Family That Failed Her

The sequence of events began in January 2025 when the victim's biological father died due to excessive alcohol consumption, leaving the family without support. Within months, her mother remarried a man identified as Pawan alias Paramal Gurjar, a resident of Laharca Chak in Guna district.

After the second marriage, Pawan brought the girl and her mother to Rajgarh. According to investigators, it was here that the criminal conspiracy took shape — the child was treated not as a family member but as a commodity.

Forced into Marriage at 12

On 3 February 2025, the minor was forcibly married off to 26-year-old Bhola alias Bholaram Gurjar. Police say the transaction involved Rs 8 lakh in cash and jewellery worth Rs 4 lakh — an outright case of child trafficking dressed up as matrimony.

The groom allegedly raped the girl on their wedding night. In the weeks that followed, her stepfather Pawan also sexually assaulted her multiple times. Threatened into silence, the child endured the abuse without telling anyone.

Abandoned, Exploited, Assaulted Again

Her ordeal did not end there. Pawan eventually abandoned the girl's mother and went absconding. The mother then contracted a third marriage in Rajasthan and left her daughter behind at the home of a woman named Shaitanbai in Rajgarh, where the child was made to do household work.

It was during this period that another accused, Devraj Gurjar, found an opportunity to sexually assault her.

How the Case Surfaced

The matter came to the notice of Kotwali police station in-charge Inspector Manju Makhenia. Acting on the information, authorities placed the girl in a safe environment and arranged counselling. Once she felt assured of protection, the child narrated her ordeal in detail — describing months of physical, mental, and sexual abuse carried out under constant threats and intimidation.

"She had been living under fear for a long time. The counselling gave her the confidence to speak," a police official said.

Five Arrested, Mastermind Still at Large

An FIR bearing crime number 350/2026 has been registered at Kotwali police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

Five of the six accused have been arrested: Bhola alias Bholaram Gurjar, Devraj Gurjar, Sagar Gurjar, Shaitanbai, and the victim's mother. The prime accused, Pawan alias Paramal Gurjar, remains at large. Police have announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to his arrest and are conducting raids at multiple locations.

Child Marriage Still Happening in Shadows

Despite laws being in place for nearly five decades, child marriages continue to occur across India — not in public ceremony but in secrecy, often in agricultural fields, away from any gathering or decoration. The Prevention of Child Marriage Act was enacted in 2006 with strengthened provisions, following the 1978 amendment that raised the legal marriage age for girls to 18. Yet cases like this one reveal how legislation alone cannot protect a child when her own family becomes the instrument of exploitation.

The Rajgarh case is a stark reminder that trafficking does not always happen at borders or in distant cities. Sometimes it happens within the home.

"My Life Will Be Ruined. What Was My Fault?"

Those were the words of Seema — a bride standing inside Kohefiza Police Station in Bhopal on Thursday, mehndi still fresh on her hands, haldi marks on her face, and a garland around her neck. She had not come to file a complaint. She had come to beg.

Her groom — gangster Akash Bajpai alias "Bhoora Haddi" — had been arrested by police just hours earlier, pulled straight out of the wedding mandap before the pheras could be completed. And Seema was not ready to accept that her wedding was over.

"Sahab, let him go for just 2 hours. If not, at least complete the pheras here in custody itself," she pleaded with officers. "The guests are still at home. Everything from haldi to the pre-wedding rituals has been done. What is my crime? I had no knowledge of what he had done."

Police did not relent. Her lawyer even approached the court requesting time to complete the wedding ceremony. That request was also denied.

Why Was the Groom Arrested From the Mandap?

The reason Akash never completed his own wedding is as chilling as it is ironic — he had kidnapped a priest to fund the wedding itself.

According to DCP Mayur Khandelwal, 26-year-old priest Sanjeev was a known acquaintance of gang member Akash Upadhyay. On March 10, Upadhyay lured the priest to his room on the pretext of dropping a girl to a location. Once inside, gang members assaulted the priest and demanded ₹8 lakh — threatening to have a girl file a rape case against him if he refused or approached police. The priest was held captive at a flat in Eidgah Hills belonging to gang member Taufiq alias Shooter.

The gang first extracted ₹50,000 from the priest's brother online as a first instalment. The remaining ₹7.5 lakh was to be paid in five instalments. After releasing him, the gang believed the matter was settled. They were wrong. On March 11, the priest walked into Kohefiza Police Station and filed an FIR.

Police moved the same night. By Wednesday afternoon they arrived at the marriage garden on Airport Road — and arrested Akash right from the mandap.

Akash Confesses: Kidnapping Was to Pay for the Wedding

In a confession that captures just how brazen this gang had become, Akash told police that he needed money for the wedding. Part of the extorted amount had already been spent on the haldi ceremony the previous day. The idea to kidnap and blackmail the priest was given by his associate Akash Upadhyay, who also planned the entire honey-trap operation to ensure the victim would not go to police.

Who Is Akash 'Bhoora Haddi'? A Dangerous Profile

This was no first-time offender. Akash alias Bhoora Haddi is the kingpin of the "Illegal Gang" — an organised criminal network active in Bhopal since 2018, with over 50 young men from Wajpayee Nagar as members. Every member bears a distinctive tattoo of the word "Illegal" on their neck as a mark of identity.

Akash alone has 31 criminal cases against him including murder. He was the prime accused in the killing of BJP Yuva Morcha Mandal Vice President Surendra Kushwaha on March 18, 2024 — shot near Bhopal Central Jail's main gate as Surendra was returning after dropping a friend following parole. Akash had been released on bail just four months ago after spending approximately 18 months in jail for that murder case.

The gang's primary businesses include illegal liquor trafficking, extortion, blackmailing, gambling, betting, and contract assaults. Their network spans Panchsheel Nagar, Shyamla Hills, TT Nagar, Kamla Nagar, Shahjahanabad, and Kohefiza areas.

Total Arrests: Six Gang Members Held

Police have so far arrested six members of the Illegal Gang — Akash alias Bhoora Haddi, Rajmaji Thakur, Abhishek Upadhyay, Abhishek Meena, Neeraj Khange, and Amit Oswal. All six have been sent to three-day police remand. Investigators are yet to seize the bikes and phones used in the crime. The female gang member who was used to honey-trap the priest remains at large.

The Human Cost: A Bride Left Behind

Beyond the crime and the arrests, Seema's story stands apart. She arrived at a police station on what should have been the most important day of her life — not as a criminal, not as a witness, but as a bride who simply wanted to get married.

Whether she knew about Akash's criminal history or not, her desperation at Kohefiza Police Station that Thursday tells its own story — of a wedding paid for with a kidnapping, and a bride left standing with mehndi on her hands and no groom to complete the pheras.

The court and police both said no. The wedding remains incomplete.