Fear seemed to emit through all the pores of her body. Her hands were icy and she looked like she had just woken up from a nightmare. Children around her were trying to befriend her, but she did not respond. Ratnamma Dasar, 10, a child bride from Karadigudda, north Karnataka, was just rescued by the police, hours before her marriage. The police were tipped off about the marriage and they warned her parents, but they were undeterred.
Hanumesh Edri, 14, from Bankapura, was supposed to be married along with Ratnamma. As the Unicef team paid a visit to inquire about the proposed marriage, his parents hid Hanumesh and showed another child! Later, the police intervened and the children were rescued amid protests from villagers. Almost in tears, Hanumesh was too frightened to speak to us.
Unicef's The State Of The World's Children 2011 report says one in four marriages in India involves child brides. Forty per cent of the world's child marriages occur in India, says Unicef. Child marriage is more or less the norm in many places in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh; 82 per cent of females in Rajasthan are married before 18, says Unicef.
As per The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, any marriage involving a girl below 18 years of age or/and a boy below 21 years is a child marriage. Despite the Act, 15 per cent of girls in rural areas are married before 13. “People have their own means to bypass rules,” said a social worker from Koppal, north Karnataka. “Sometimes they forge age certificates. Doctors in government hospitals here used to accept bribes and issue age certificates to minor girls.”
Social workers say child marriages are entwined with religion, in many cases. For example, in some places, attending a grandchild's wedding is a shortcut to heaven. Shilpa Muthappa Naganur, 16, from Tumkur, was married last year to her first cousin. Her grandmother Ningamma had become very weak and her last wish was to see Shilpa married. Interestingly, Ningamma is still alive.
In other places, parents are forced to marry their children out of poverty. An example is Bihar, which has the lowest per capita income in the country. “I thought marriage would provide a better future for my daughter. But it did not,” said a sobbing Bihari mother who married her 13-year-old daughter last year. “I had no choice. Both of us are working and there was nobody to take care of her at home.” Some parents marry siblings, including a minor, together to save on expenses. Natural calamities also make the children more vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers, and many are pushed into marriages.
Last year, a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Shivaraj V. Patil submitted its report on prevention of child marriages in Karnataka. “I feel a two-pronged strategy is necessary to stop child marriages in our society,” Patil said. “Creating awareness of this social evil and its deleterious effects on our society and the persons involved, particularly in the rural areas, will go a long way.... Secondly, a strong legal framework that includes a thorough investigation, effective prosecution and speedy trial leading to punishment of the guilty would act as an effective deterrence.”
“A concerted effort from a vigilant civil society, dedicated NGOs, honest and committed law enforcement agencies, proactive judiciary and an alert media will [also] be needed.... Additionally, it is necessary to adopt [the] law emotionally and not merely literally for effective enforcement.”
But, last month, the Delhi High Court surprisingly ruled that a Muslim girl can marry “as per her choice at the age of 15 years if she has attained puberty.” Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and S.P. Garg said that as the “Mohammedan Law” permits a girl to marry without the consent of her parents once she attains puberty, she has the right to reside with her husband even if she is below the age of 18. The court also allowed a 16-year-old girl to stay in her matrimonial house, holding her marriage to be valid.
What does marriage mean to a child? “From their classmates who got married at a younger age, they know it is something bitter,” said Rafia Nausheen, area manager of Mahita, a Hyderabad-based NGO. “They know they would have to stay away from their parents and may not be allowed to play or go to school. They are not old enough to understand the legal complications or possible health problems.”
But in most cases, knowledge does not help the child much, because the child's consent is not sought. Some do plead with their parents, in vain. Gavisidhamma, 13, from Ojanahalli, Karnataka, was very anxious when her marriage was fixed with her mama (mother's brother) Virupaksha, 22. “My father beat me when I told him that I did not want to get married at such a young age, and that, too, to my mama,” she said. “My mother was against the marriage, but she could not say a word.” Gavisidhamma was married on January 31, 2011, and wears a thali to school.
The marriage was held at Virupaksha's house, which is close to hers, and around 100 people were invited, said Gavisidhamma. She said she wore a sari and exchanged garlands with Virupaksha in the presence of a pujari. After marriage, she stayed at her husband's place for three days, and will permanently move in with him in another three years.
Despite all the grudges she has against her father, Gavisidhamma loves him with a childlike innocence. But her feelings towards Virupaksha have not changed. “I do not like him at all,” she said, with all the bitterness of a woman who has been in an unhappy marriage for many years.
Child marriage is a custom in many places in north Karnataka like Koppal, Raichur and Bellary. “You have no choice but to follow the custom,” said Yellamma, 60, Virupaksha's grandmother, who got married at five. “But back then children used to be healthier,” she claimed. Another granddaughter of hers, Mala, 17, a lab technician, has evaded marriage so far. But many of their neighbours and Mala's classmates were married at mass marriages organised by mining barons and temples. Perhaps, education saved Mala.
As we drove past sunflower fields, leafless trees, huts made of twigs and a lane of houses with cowsheds next to the bedroom, I kept thinking whether Gavisidhamma would be able to fulfil her dream of becoming a teacher. Children who are married at a young age often find it very difficult to continue their education. Some stop going to school because classmates tease them. Some buckle under the pressure of running a home; others are sent to work by their in-laws.
Child marriage is a serious violation of human rights, say sociologists. Children who get into early marriages lose their childhood as adulthood is moved up. Unable to negotiate their freedom, they are at a higher risk of domestic violence also. “The victims undergo physical and mental abuse and sexual exploitation,” said Nausheen. “Most of them do not get proper medical care when they fall ill. Being isolated from their friends and relatives, they may not even be able to share their problems with anybody.”
Child marriage victims take long to recover from the trauma, even after separation. Yellamma Balappa, 16, from Hyati has made up her mind never to marry again. Last Ugadi, she was married to Hanumesh, a sheep rearer, out of poverty. She said: “I stayed in my husband's house for one and a half months during which I was made to do all the work in the house, including washing clothes of the whole family, doing the dishes, cooking and daubing the floor with cow dung. I used to get up at 5 a.m. every day and was treated almost like an adult. I used to wear a sari, too.”
But Yellamma soon realised that her in-laws were hard to please. When the marriage took a turbulent course, she talked to her parents and they asked her in-laws to send the her back. The child was sent back, but they refused to return the dowry of 0 18,000, 15gm of gold, and vessels worth 035,000.
Experts say that prevalence of child marriage is one of the important reasons of high maternal mortality in India. Recent studies indicate that 45 out of every 1,000 births in India are by girls aged 15-19 years. “A teen mother has increased chances of losing her life during labour,” said Dr Vinita Singh, consultant, Shradhdha Clinic, Patna. “In girls under 18 years, the reproductive organs and pelvic bone may not be fully developed. So, in early pregnancies there will be more chances of eclampsia, pre-eclampsia, hypertension, post-partum haemorrhage, Caesarean section and higher rate of mortality.”
Sexual relationship at an early age exposes the children to many health problems. “Children are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases due to biological reasons,” Singh said. “Poor hygiene and not using contraceptives make them more prone to infections. It may increase the chances of cervical cancer also.”
Emotional wounds can be equally devastating for the child marriage victims. Shobha Ramesh, 14, from Balageri has already been separated; she has stopped wearing her thali. Shobha was married to her uncle when she was little. “Three years back he got into another relationship,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
If the marriage fails, parents refuse to accept the children. “Many of them turn to prostitution to make a living,” said Shivaram M., who works with the District Child Protection Programme in Koppal.
Shobha, however, had some luck. Mahila Samakhya, an NGO, has offered her accommodation and financial assistance to continue her studies. She has sought refuge in art, in a conscious effort to overcome the trauma. Dance relaxes her mind and helps her forget her sorrows. “I enjoy drawing too,'' she said, showing us a picture she sketched—Kannada film star Darshan beating up his wife.
Shobha's husband was in his early twenties. But in child marriages, girls are married to men twice or thrice their age, too. Lakshmi, 17, from Shiraguppi, belongs to the Kuruba community and had a narrow escape from a marriage when she was 13. The groom was almost as old as her father and had married thrice before. Though her mother insisted on getting her married, her father stood by her decision not to.
Later, she fell in love with Sangmesh. Her mother thwarted the romance by marrying her to Basavaraj, 30, an agricultural worker, last year. After a week with Basavaraj, she came back home and refused to go back. “My mother, Manjavva, forced me to go back to Basavaraj's house and beat me,” Lakshmi said. “Unable to bear with the torture, I eloped with Sangmesh to Chickmagalur. I would never have done that, but for the forced marriage.”
Lakshmi is now staying at Nemmadi Short Stay Home in Bhagyanagar, and is counting the days until she is 18. “My mother has filed cases against 10 members of Sangmesh's family. I can also file a case against her for child marriage. But I will never do that,” said Lakshmi, busy knitting a sweater. She knows well that weaving a life without parental support could be hard. But she is determined to face destiny on her own terms.
Extracted from The Week (Cover Story by Mini.P.Thomas)
Hanumesh Edri, 14, from Bankapura, was supposed to be married along with Ratnamma. As the Unicef team paid a visit to inquire about the proposed marriage, his parents hid Hanumesh and showed another child! Later, the police intervened and the children were rescued amid protests from villagers. Almost in tears, Hanumesh was too frightened to speak to us.
Unicef's The State Of The World's Children 2011 report says one in four marriages in India involves child brides. Forty per cent of the world's child marriages occur in India, says Unicef. Child marriage is more or less the norm in many places in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh; 82 per cent of females in Rajasthan are married before 18, says Unicef.
As per The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, any marriage involving a girl below 18 years of age or/and a boy below 21 years is a child marriage. Despite the Act, 15 per cent of girls in rural areas are married before 13. “People have their own means to bypass rules,” said a social worker from Koppal, north Karnataka. “Sometimes they forge age certificates. Doctors in government hospitals here used to accept bribes and issue age certificates to minor girls.”
Social workers say child marriages are entwined with religion, in many cases. For example, in some places, attending a grandchild's wedding is a shortcut to heaven. Shilpa Muthappa Naganur, 16, from Tumkur, was married last year to her first cousin. Her grandmother Ningamma had become very weak and her last wish was to see Shilpa married. Interestingly, Ningamma is still alive.
In other places, parents are forced to marry their children out of poverty. An example is Bihar, which has the lowest per capita income in the country. “I thought marriage would provide a better future for my daughter. But it did not,” said a sobbing Bihari mother who married her 13-year-old daughter last year. “I had no choice. Both of us are working and there was nobody to take care of her at home.” Some parents marry siblings, including a minor, together to save on expenses. Natural calamities also make the children more vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers, and many are pushed into marriages.
Last year, a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Shivaraj V. Patil submitted its report on prevention of child marriages in Karnataka. “I feel a two-pronged strategy is necessary to stop child marriages in our society,” Patil said. “Creating awareness of this social evil and its deleterious effects on our society and the persons involved, particularly in the rural areas, will go a long way.... Secondly, a strong legal framework that includes a thorough investigation, effective prosecution and speedy trial leading to punishment of the guilty would act as an effective deterrence.”
“A concerted effort from a vigilant civil society, dedicated NGOs, honest and committed law enforcement agencies, proactive judiciary and an alert media will [also] be needed.... Additionally, it is necessary to adopt [the] law emotionally and not merely literally for effective enforcement.”
But, last month, the Delhi High Court surprisingly ruled that a Muslim girl can marry “as per her choice at the age of 15 years if she has attained puberty.” Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and S.P. Garg said that as the “Mohammedan Law” permits a girl to marry without the consent of her parents once she attains puberty, she has the right to reside with her husband even if she is below the age of 18. The court also allowed a 16-year-old girl to stay in her matrimonial house, holding her marriage to be valid.
What does marriage mean to a child? “From their classmates who got married at a younger age, they know it is something bitter,” said Rafia Nausheen, area manager of Mahita, a Hyderabad-based NGO. “They know they would have to stay away from their parents and may not be allowed to play or go to school. They are not old enough to understand the legal complications or possible health problems.”
But in most cases, knowledge does not help the child much, because the child's consent is not sought. Some do plead with their parents, in vain. Gavisidhamma, 13, from Ojanahalli, Karnataka, was very anxious when her marriage was fixed with her mama (mother's brother) Virupaksha, 22. “My father beat me when I told him that I did not want to get married at such a young age, and that, too, to my mama,” she said. “My mother was against the marriage, but she could not say a word.” Gavisidhamma was married on January 31, 2011, and wears a thali to school.
The marriage was held at Virupaksha's house, which is close to hers, and around 100 people were invited, said Gavisidhamma. She said she wore a sari and exchanged garlands with Virupaksha in the presence of a pujari. After marriage, she stayed at her husband's place for three days, and will permanently move in with him in another three years.
Despite all the grudges she has against her father, Gavisidhamma loves him with a childlike innocence. But her feelings towards Virupaksha have not changed. “I do not like him at all,” she said, with all the bitterness of a woman who has been in an unhappy marriage for many years.
Child marriage is a custom in many places in north Karnataka like Koppal, Raichur and Bellary. “You have no choice but to follow the custom,” said Yellamma, 60, Virupaksha's grandmother, who got married at five. “But back then children used to be healthier,” she claimed. Another granddaughter of hers, Mala, 17, a lab technician, has evaded marriage so far. But many of their neighbours and Mala's classmates were married at mass marriages organised by mining barons and temples. Perhaps, education saved Mala.
As we drove past sunflower fields, leafless trees, huts made of twigs and a lane of houses with cowsheds next to the bedroom, I kept thinking whether Gavisidhamma would be able to fulfil her dream of becoming a teacher. Children who are married at a young age often find it very difficult to continue their education. Some stop going to school because classmates tease them. Some buckle under the pressure of running a home; others are sent to work by their in-laws.
Child marriage is a serious violation of human rights, say sociologists. Children who get into early marriages lose their childhood as adulthood is moved up. Unable to negotiate their freedom, they are at a higher risk of domestic violence also. “The victims undergo physical and mental abuse and sexual exploitation,” said Nausheen. “Most of them do not get proper medical care when they fall ill. Being isolated from their friends and relatives, they may not even be able to share their problems with anybody.”
Child marriage victims take long to recover from the trauma, even after separation. Yellamma Balappa, 16, from Hyati has made up her mind never to marry again. Last Ugadi, she was married to Hanumesh, a sheep rearer, out of poverty. She said: “I stayed in my husband's house for one and a half months during which I was made to do all the work in the house, including washing clothes of the whole family, doing the dishes, cooking and daubing the floor with cow dung. I used to get up at 5 a.m. every day and was treated almost like an adult. I used to wear a sari, too.”
But Yellamma soon realised that her in-laws were hard to please. When the marriage took a turbulent course, she talked to her parents and they asked her in-laws to send the her back. The child was sent back, but they refused to return the dowry of 0 18,000, 15gm of gold, and vessels worth 035,000.
Experts say that prevalence of child marriage is one of the important reasons of high maternal mortality in India. Recent studies indicate that 45 out of every 1,000 births in India are by girls aged 15-19 years. “A teen mother has increased chances of losing her life during labour,” said Dr Vinita Singh, consultant, Shradhdha Clinic, Patna. “In girls under 18 years, the reproductive organs and pelvic bone may not be fully developed. So, in early pregnancies there will be more chances of eclampsia, pre-eclampsia, hypertension, post-partum haemorrhage, Caesarean section and higher rate of mortality.”
Sexual relationship at an early age exposes the children to many health problems. “Children are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases due to biological reasons,” Singh said. “Poor hygiene and not using contraceptives make them more prone to infections. It may increase the chances of cervical cancer also.”
Emotional wounds can be equally devastating for the child marriage victims. Shobha Ramesh, 14, from Balageri has already been separated; she has stopped wearing her thali. Shobha was married to her uncle when she was little. “Three years back he got into another relationship,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
If the marriage fails, parents refuse to accept the children. “Many of them turn to prostitution to make a living,” said Shivaram M., who works with the District Child Protection Programme in Koppal.
Shobha, however, had some luck. Mahila Samakhya, an NGO, has offered her accommodation and financial assistance to continue her studies. She has sought refuge in art, in a conscious effort to overcome the trauma. Dance relaxes her mind and helps her forget her sorrows. “I enjoy drawing too,'' she said, showing us a picture she sketched—Kannada film star Darshan beating up his wife.
Shobha's husband was in his early twenties. But in child marriages, girls are married to men twice or thrice their age, too. Lakshmi, 17, from Shiraguppi, belongs to the Kuruba community and had a narrow escape from a marriage when she was 13. The groom was almost as old as her father and had married thrice before. Though her mother insisted on getting her married, her father stood by her decision not to.
Later, she fell in love with Sangmesh. Her mother thwarted the romance by marrying her to Basavaraj, 30, an agricultural worker, last year. After a week with Basavaraj, she came back home and refused to go back. “My mother, Manjavva, forced me to go back to Basavaraj's house and beat me,” Lakshmi said. “Unable to bear with the torture, I eloped with Sangmesh to Chickmagalur. I would never have done that, but for the forced marriage.”
Lakshmi is now staying at Nemmadi Short Stay Home in Bhagyanagar, and is counting the days until she is 18. “My mother has filed cases against 10 members of Sangmesh's family. I can also file a case against her for child marriage. But I will never do that,” said Lakshmi, busy knitting a sweater. She knows well that weaving a life without parental support could be hard. But she is determined to face destiny on her own terms.
Extracted from The Week (Cover Story by Mini.P.Thomas)
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