On April 27, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia was informed that a 17-year-old girl was abducted for the purpose of marriage from the school area in the village of Takala, Marneuli municipality.

The Public Defender's Office has been involved in the study of the case since the very first day. A representative of the Public Defender personally met with the girl and her family members. The girl denied violence both in a conversation with the Public Defender's representative and in a testimony given to the law enforcement agencies.

It is noteworthy that it took a day and a half for the police to establish the whereabouts of the girl. The Public Defender requested information about the measure taken by the police. The Public Defender's Office will examine in detail how efficiently the law enforcement agencies acted to establish the whereabouts of the girl from the moment it received the relevant notification.

Despite the fact that the girl denies violence, the Public Defender is concerned about the incident. In general, early marriage, especially "abductions", may potentially impact on the children’s healthy development and their rights to live in a free environment and get education.

Effective response by the law enforcement agencies is especially important in order to prevent normalization of such cases in the society. The Public Defender will continue to actively monitor the situation in the village of Takala and will examine the effectiveness of responses of the law enforcement and social agencies to this particular case of early marriage.