by Sunil Bajpai
Kanpur: A troubling trend has emerged in Kanpur, where a significant number of young girls are reportedly leaving their homes to be with their alleged lovers. Each month, around a dozen girls from various areas of the district, including Naubasta, Barra, Govind Nagar, and Kalyanpur, run away, often returning not only married but also pregnant.
Sources indicate that many of these girls have severed ties with their families, even making statements against their parents in favor of their partners. Disturbingly, some of the girls’ lovers have abandoned them after they became unwed mothers, while others have disappeared without a trace, leaving their families and authorities concerned for their well-being.
Local police are increasingly frustrated with the frequency of these incidents. Just as they manage to recover one girl, another disappears. In some cases, police have felt compelled to facilitate marriages between the girls and their lovers directly at police stations. A notable incident involved a 19-year-old girl named Neha from Gujepur village, who eloped with her lover, Yogendra. Despite her family’s efforts to intervene, Neha insisted on marrying him at the Araul police station.
This ongoing issue raises alarm about the safety and well-being of young girls in Kanpur, as the trend shows no signs of abating. With each case, the question remains: how many more girls will leave their families for love, and at what cost?
