Child marriages still rampant

Jaipur: Gauri is not amused. The 10-year-old cannot comprehend why she has been detained by the police for questioning.

For once, her parents had got her new clothes. The bright red bridal outfit always fascinated her and she thought she looked very pretty in it as she cast knowing glances at the other girls.

There were 11 of them on the stage, all aged between 10 and 16 years. Some of them were nervous, but not Gauri. "I was very excited," she recalled.

But on Saturday afternoon, minutes before the Rajasthan Megvansh (Balai) Mahasabha could solemnise the wedding of these children, officials of the government's Women and Child Development Department (WCDD) raided the place.

The mass marriage ceremony was called off and the girls were detained by police along with their parents for questioning.

"Our timely intervention has saved the lives of these children," said Asha Mann, the assistant child development programme officer who prevented the marriages.

Child marriage is illegal in India. The country's law stipulates that a girl has to be over 18 before she's eligible for marriage. For boys the age is 21 years.

But in the desert state of Rajasthan, there are few who uphold this law, particularly in the economically poor families of the Balai communities.

"Child marriages are rampant across the state place and as Saturday's incident showed, sometimes they take place right under the nose of the district administration," said social worker Vinod Chowdhury. "The weddings were being organised in the premises of a school which is located right in the heart of the city. If WCDD had not taken swift action, many lives would have been ruined. Some of these girls haven't even attained puberty," he added.

Meanwhile, the President of the Mahasabha, Kanhaiya Lal Panwar who organised the weddings said he was not aware that the girls were minors.

"I am not trying to wash my hands of the issue. A total of 21 couples were to get married at the ceremony. But the parents of some girls lied about the age of their daughters," he told Gulf News. The remaining couples had their wedding ceremony later that evening, but only after the police had ascertained their age.

For the would-be bridegrooms of the 11 minor girls, however, it was an embarrassing situation as they had to return to their families empty-handed.

The annual festival of Peepul Poornima, which fell on Saturday, is considered an auspicious occasion for child marriages in Rajasthan.

In spite of formal warnings posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, every small town and village in the state hold child marriages on this day.

Although the law restraining child marriages in India, the Child Marriage Restraint Act, was enacted way back in 1929 with subsequent amendments in 1949 and 1978, child marriages are still rampant, particularly in low income families.

Instances of child marriages are at their worst in states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal they have a combined population of 420 million, about 40 per cent of India's population.

In Rajasthan, a survey of more than 5,000 women conducted by the federal government in 1993 showed that 56 per cent had married before they were 15 years old.

Of those, 3 per cent were married off before they were five and another 14 per cent before they were 10. Barely 18 per cent were literate, and only 3 per cent used any form of birth control other than sterilisation.

"It is a tragedy for these little flowers, and for our country, that they are snatched away into marriage before they even have a chance to bloom," said Mohini Giri, 60, chairwoman of the National Commission for Women, a government agency established in the early 1990s that has become a driving force for raising awareness about the plight of women.

Locals in the largely illiterate Gujjar and Balai community believe girls reaching puberty without getting married fall prey to sexual ailments.

Marriage proposals on CDs big success
The Asian Age

Lucknow: When you press the play button, the head of the family greets you with folded hands. He introduces himself and then passes the baton to his daughter.

The daughter introduces herself, talks about her education and her hobbies and then the father takes over again to introduce the family's relations.

The girl is back in the frame flaunting her paintings or other art work and may even sing a song.

The address and contact number of the father flashes on the screen and the patriarch with folded hands says "hope to hear from you soon".

The new technique of inviting alliances through compact discs is emerging a bit hit in Uttar Pradesh.

"Marriage proposals on a CD allow you to rewind and have a closer look at the bride-to-be without adding to the girl's embarrassment and discomfort," says Naveen Arora, a young entrepreneur from Kanpur who has made more than 50 CDs for his customers. Arora charges Rs4,000 (Dh333) per CD.