In her statement to police, the girl said her family had taken her to the house on the pretext of attending a ceremony.An alert from child protection groups led Sambhal police to prevent the alleged marriage of a 16-year-old girl to a 50-year-old man in the Nakhasa police station area. The marriage was scheduled for Thursday, and the girl’s parents had allegedly agreed to it in exchange for Rs 5 lakh.Station Officer Sanjay Kumar told The Indian Express that the local child protection organisation Prayatna alerted police on Tuesday evening about a minor being forced to marry an older man. A police team reached the house, which belonged to the alleged middleman, and found the girl there. Her parents and the middleman had fled, Kumar said.The girl was taken to a One-Stop Centre before being placed in the care of the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Wednesday. After the marriage was stopped, the CWC handed her back to her parents after obtaining an undertaking that any further attempt to arrange such a marriage would invite legal action, Kumar said.In her statement to police, the girl said her family had taken her to the house on the pretext of attending a ceremony. She learnt that her marriage was being arranged only after reaching the venue, where preparations were already underway. She told police that the haldi ceremony was scheduled for Wednesday and the wedding procession for Thursday.The girl said her parents were farm labourers and the family was poor. She is the eldest of five siblings — three girls and two boys. None of the children attends school, she told police.Prayatna had received the alert from Just Rights for Children (JRC), an organisation working on child protection. Jitendra Parmar of JRC told The Indian Express that a local resident had informed the organisation about the proposed marriage between the minor and a 50-year-old widower.According to Parmar, police and volunteers found that the rituals were already underway when they reached the house. While the girl’s parents and the middleman had fled, the middleman’s wife and children were present with the girl.Story continues below this adPolice have recorded the rescue in their station records, Kumar said.