When boy meets girl, it's marriage

Rajgarh: As many as 60 young couples of the Mali community were married off at Jeerapur village in Madhya Pradesh - and not all of them were of legally marriageable age - on Akshaya Tritiya, a day orthodox Hindus consider as the most auspicious for nuptial ceremonies.

Marriage between a girl below the age of 18 years and a boy of less than 21 years is strictly prohibited in India and invites punitive action.

However, violation of this legal provision still continues to be widely prevalent in Indian states, particularly in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Several communities organise mass marriages at different places on Akshaya Tritiya and the occasion is utilised by some unscrupulous parents to marry off their minor children.

Laxmi, and Gokul, for instance, were only about eight years old when they were married off.

The number of children, two years and above, married off every year runs into thousands.

Age-old legislation

The British government in India had enacted a law in 1929 to prevent the marriage of minors. It is known as the Sharda Act. After Independence, the Indian government endorsed the Act and it is still in force. Drives to check the practice of child marriages have, for some reason, never been entirely successful, in spite of sincere efforts from both official and non-governmental agencies.

As a photographer, I have been to Akshaya Tritiya gatherings in various parts of the two states for over six years. I have been to areas like Mandsaur, Shajapur, Rajgarh, Guna and some other districts of west Madhya Pradesh bordering Rajasthan and been witness to young children, some as young as five, being married off en-masse.

The state government of Madhya Pradesh attempted to spread awareness by distributing pamphlets in the most vulnerable districts but its exhortations to stop child marriages and explaining legal repercussions of breaking the law fell on deaf years.

Illiterate and semi-literate peasants whom the government seeks to convince remain snug in the belief that marriages are made in heaven and that it is better to meet one's life partner early in life - lest somebody else should snatch her or him.

On the "auspicious" day, it is normal to spot huge tractor processions - the groom's invitees and relatives going to the girl's house for the wedding - in rural areas.

And in a majority of the cases, the groom would be a little boy aged anything between 7-15 who sits beside the driver.

The seat beside the drivers is normally reserved for the "groom" - usually decked out in wedding finery with a huge turban sitting heavy on a little head and a garland weighing down his neck.

According to the Sharda Act of 1929 that aims to check child marriages, parents who get their minor wards married could face up to three months imprisonment and a fine.

Undeterred

If the groom is more than 18 years of age but less than 21, he is liable to 15 years in prison and/or a fine up to Rs10,000.

Anyone marrying a minor is punishable with imprisonment upto three months and a fine.

But fear of the law is not a proposition in these parts. Partly so because the residents are knowledgeable enough to figure out that no government or political party in the country can afford to rise above electoral equations to address a social issue.

Most child marriages take place within the "Rajput" community, an ancient warrior clan. The Tawar Rajputs constitute several sects locally known as the Dangis, Sondhiyas and Lodhas who, among them, comprise more than a third of the electorate in several constituencies. Other backward communities of milkmen known as the Gujjars and Yadavs in these areas also add to child marriage statistics.

'Not a crime'

"In the bordering areas of Rajasthan, no one thinks of child marriage as a crime," explained a senior official in Rajgarh town.

"Child marriages are very much a part of the customs and social traditions that have been continuing for centuries. Sudden police action or people getting arrested for getting their minor children married might trigger chaos, unwarranted agitation, even violence, because it would directly hit the sentiments of the people" he added.

The writer is a freelance photographer