Many girls who leave their homes to get married without their parents’ consent get killed or end up as sex workers, Bihar’s police chief said on Thursday, according to ANI.

Bihar Director General of Police SK Singhal made the remarks at a “Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan” (social reform campaign) event in Samastipur city.

“Many girls leave home without their parents’ consent in order to get married,” Singhal said. “This leads to such unfortunate consequences. Many of them, both boys and girls, get murdered. Several girls even end up as sex workers.”

Singhal said that such instances cause of a lot of pain to the family members, particularly the parents of those who elope.

“I urge [parents] to have regular dialogues with their children, teach them good values, understand their emotions and to bind the family together with emotion,” the officer said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also attended the event.

The three-week long “Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan” campaign started in Motihari district on December 22, The Times of India reported. As part of the campaign, Kumar is slated to visit all nine divisions in Bihar to speak about the benefits of alcohol prohibition and the negative impacts of dowry and child marriage.