Teen boy sells young wife to 55-year-old man, buys smartphone with money

• 17-year-old boy sells wife to a 55-year-old man for ₹1.8 lakh (PKR4.18).
• Police rescue the wife, 26, from the south-eastern Rajasthan district of Baran after facing “great difficulty”.
• Boy presented before a juvenile court after which he is sent to a correctional facility.

Bhubaneswar, Odisha: A 17-year-old man in India's Odisha has been arrested by police after he sold off his young wife to a 55-year-old man to buy a cellular phone.

According to a report by The Hindustan Times, the teenager, who got married in July this year, found a job in Rajasthan to work in a brick kiln factory where he met the 55-year-old man. 

Police have rescued the wife, 26, 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. 

Per the police, the man took his wife to Rajasthan with him in August when he started the job but only a few days later, he decided to sell her to the 55-year-old man for ₹1.8 lakh (PKR4.18). 

After obtaining the money, the man splurged money on dining and then bought himself a smartphone. Later on, he returned to his village and when the woman's family asked about her, he lied that she had eloped.  

Police said that the woman's family did not buy his story and decided to lodge a complaint with the police. Upon further investigation, it turned out that 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.