An underage girl, spotted after her marriage was solemnised with rituals on Tuesday, was rescued by the child protection committee, the panchayat, an NGO and the police, from a village under Habibpur police station of Malda district on Thursday.

Sources said the 15-year-old girl from a village in Mangalpura panchayat of Habibpur was married off to a youth on Tuesday. After her marriage was over, representatives of the child protection committee of the district got information about it and learnt that the girl was at her “in-law’s” and that a reception would be held on Thursday.

They informed the police and on Thursday evening, a joint team reached the groom’s house.

The groom fled with some of his relatives.

The team members spoke with a relative of the youth and the bride. Baijayanti Sarkar, head of the local panchayat who was with the team, gave a declaration in writing that the girl would be sent to her parents immediately.

“She said the girl will not be allowed to live with her husband before she turns 18. The head of the panchayat will keep a watch on the girl,” a team member said.

Asked how an underage marriage could be held, Shibendu Shekhar Jana, an officer of the child protection department, said families of the bride and groom might have taken advantage of the pandemic.

“We could rescue the girl but got a little delayed. The campaign would be intensified again across the district, particularly in rural belts,” he said.