Under-age marriage in Poovar? Rumours rife over Monalisa's age following dramatic wedding

Monalisa Bhosle, the Kumbh Mela sensation with amber eyes, married her boyfriend, Farman, in Kerala, which had its share of drama. The top brass of CPM arrived at Poovar temple in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday and joined in the wedding, which even gained headlines across news channels in the state. Monalisa took shelter in the Thampanoor police station with her boyfriend, claiming that her parents were forcing her to return home as they were against her marrying a man of another religion.

Amidst this, certain sections and organisations came forward claiming that the Kumbh Mela sensation was a minor. The rumour immediately spread on social media, raising doubts over the whole marriage.

However, it was confirmed by K-SMART (Kerala - Solution for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation) that Monalisa was born on January 1, 2008, at West Nimar, Madhya Pradesh. The birth certificate was also uploaded to the website. The marriage was registered under the Common Marriage Act.

Earlier, many organisations came forward claiming that Monalisa was born on January 21 2009, and even raised the demand to file an FIR for child marriage and register POCSO. It is reported that the organisation leaders contacted Monalisa’s mother, who told them that she was barely of the legal age for marriage. When Monalisa achieved popularity during the last Kumbh Mela, she was just 16 years of age. However, K-SMART would not allow underage marriages, and even the Poovar police confirmed that the woman was well over 18 years of age.