The shocking marriage reportedly took place on June 23, 2015 in a secret village temple ceremony. Although Lal Jat already has a woman whom he is dating, the bizarre wedding is said to have taken place in order to fulfill Nata Pratha.
Nata Pratha is an ancient local custom which dictates that a man can have a live-in relationship with a married woman as long as he pays money to her so he can move in with her.
The practice is allowed only if both the man and the woman are already married to other people. As Lal Jat was a bachelor, he married the girl in this secret wedding in order to comply with customs.
Although the girl's family were reportedly paid an undisclosed fee, the little girl is permitted to live with her family.
Lal Jat has since been arrested by police under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, but they are still hunting Jamuni Bai, the marriage broker who is known for arranging marriages with child brides.
Inspector and Station House officer of Gangrar, Gyanendra Singh, said: "We learnt about the incident when the pictures of the wedding started circulating on social networking apps.
"We managed to get hold of the pictures and we sent a team to investigate the matter. We found Ratan Lal had married a minor to follow age-old customs.
"But for us it is a clear case of child marriage and we arrested Ratan Lal Jat under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006.
"But Jamuni Bai is at large and we've launched an operation to find all witnesses involved in the illegal child marriage."
