Fact Check: Bride in viral photo is not 8-years-old but 19 years of age

The photo is being shared by many users claiming that the girl featured is an eight-year-old forcibly married to a 28-year-old man in Bihar's Nawada district. They also claimed that the girl's parents allegedly married their daughter to the man due to poverty.

This photo was tweeted by many well-known personalities and journalists of the mainstream media.

Even Priyank Kanoongo, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Childs Right had issued a notice stating that they are taking cognizance of the complaint received from social media regarding child marriage in Nawada in Bihar. They said that the commission is committed to bringing the culprits to justice at any cost and asked people not to violate the law by uploading and sharing a child's photo.

Fact Check

The claim made about this viral photo is false.

When NewsMeter searched through these viral tweets we found a tweet by Indian filmmaker and president of the Indian Film and Directors Association, Ashoke Pandit.

Earlier Ashoke Pandit had tweeted in support of the claim. However, afterwards, he shared a tweet stating, "Relieved to know that this issue has been taken up by the authorities in #Bihar today & they have verified that the girl is NOT a minor. Thanks for such swift action & clarification. Thank U @Shubhrastha for ur concern & for following up on this. Deleting the original tweet."

The official Twitter handle of the district magistrate of the Nawada district had shared a press release opposing the claim and details of the investigation. The press release had also stated that the girl's birth date was 1 January, 2002. A Facebook user had also shared the Aadhar card of the girl on which her birth date was mentioned as the same.

According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, when the news of an 8-year-old getting married to a 28-year-old went viral, the district magistrate of the Nawada district sent officers to the girl's house in Manjaur village to investigate the matter. The villagers had identified the girl from the pictures as Tanu Kumari and told officials that she is over 18-years of age and was married a month ago. She also has a 15-year-old younger sister and a 12-year-old brother. And the girl's father Pawan Singh, 46, works in Surat.

Meena Kotwal, founder of Mooknayak had visited the couple in order to clarify the viral claims.

Hence, the claims made are false as the photo was wrongly given a child marriage spin on social media platforms. The district magistrate of Nawada had also confirmed that Tanu Kumari is over 18 years of age.