The Odisha police have arrested a man from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with the trafficking and forcible marriage of a minor tribal girl. Authorities said that the investigation will be expanded to bring more individuals involved under its scope.

The girl, lured with the promise of a job, was trafficked from Kankadahad area in Dhenkanal district to Jhansi by a middleman. In her complaint to Kamakshyanagar police station, she alleged that she was sold to two families in Jhansi and subjected to sexual assault by multiple men over a period of nearly two years.

Police confirmed that Binay Patra, accused of sending the girl to Jhansi, had already been arrested earlier. The latest arrest is of Chandrapal Kushwah (26), who confessed to marrying the minor after spending ₹30,000 on the ceremony. “When the girl is a minor, the marriage’s legitimacy does not arise,” said Jitendra Mallick, Inspector-in-Charge of Kamakshyanagar police station.

According to the girl’s complaint, she was sexually assaulted by Chandrapal, his elder brother, and two uncles. Civil society groups note that many young girls from Odisha and other states are trafficked to northern India under the guise of domestic work but are often forced into marriage due to skewed sex ratios in those regions. The survivor also revealed that before being trafficked to Jhansi, she was kept in Bhubaneswar along with three other girls.