Teenager sells young wife to 55-year-old man to buy smartphone

 Police arrested a 17-year-old man in India’s Odisha for selling his young wife to a 55-year-old man to buy a cellular phone, India today has reported.

The teenager got married in July this year. He met a 55-year old man at his work in a brick kiln to whom he sold his wife.

Police have rescued the 26-year-old wife from the south-eastern Rajasthan district of Baran after facing “great difficulty” because the villagers resisted handing over the woman to the police, saying that they had paid for her.

Police officials said that the man took his wife to Rajasthan with him in August when he started a job there but only a few days later, he decided to sell her to the 55-year-old man for INR 1.8 lakh (PKR 4.18 lakh).

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After getting the money, the man splurged money on dining and then bought a smartphone. Later on, he returned to his village and when the woman’s family asked about her, he lied that she had run away.

Police said that the woman’s family did not believe him and decided to register a complaint with the police. Upon further investigation, it turned out that the boy had sold his wife off.

The report says that since the boy was under 18 years of age, he was sent to a juvenile court. The court ordered the man to be taken to a correctional facility.