Untying the knot — the arduous route to freedom
Annulment of child marriage an uphill task, thanks to loopholes in the law and regressive cultural attitudes
The call came at 3 am. “I was married against my wishes five years ago when I was 12,” said a scared voice. “Now my family is forcing me to go to my marital home…”
The voice belonged to Susheela and she said she would run away if she wasn’t rescued. Dr Kriti Bharti of Jodhpur-based NGO, Saarthi Trust, immediately set off for
Barmer where the girl lived. It took over a year to annul her marriage, during which time her family disowned her.
“Since that first night when I saw her hiding behind a tree in Barmer, Susheela has been entirely my responsibility,” says Bharti.
Today, Susheela is a 20year-old college student, but her low voice and expressionless face show that she is yet to fully recover from the trauma she went through.
Bharti feels that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, has failed girls like Susheela. “There is no defined framework of rules to deal with the annulment of child marriage in the law,” she says. The government too has no provision to help girls who are trying to extricate themselves from marriages they were forced into as children. “Saarthi Trust can look after a few, but there are many more out there who need to be rehabilitated through financial aid, education, secure housing facilities and most important, regular counselling support,” Bharti says.
So far Saarthi Trust has managed to get 36 child marriages annulled. While some cases are settled by mutual consent, others can drag on for years. “Moreover, these cases are dealt with in the family court, which is only geared towards divorce cases,” says Bharti. “There needs to be a separate court for child marriage annulment, as well as a fixed time frame for resolving cases.”
The PCMA also places the onus of proving the marriage and age at marriage on the appellant. The problem with this is, since they know child marriage is unlawful, families often don’t print invitation cards or take photographs at the wedding. “Without these crucial pieces of evidence, even proving that a marriage took place becomes a herculean task,” says Bharti.
Another loophole in the PCMA is that the victim can ask for annulment at any point upto two years of reaching legal age (18 for girls, 21 for boys). This provision closes the option of annulment for scores of young people who may want their marriages voided after they cross the stipulated age limit. Every week Saarthi Trust gets calls from people who wish to have their marriages annulled when the law can only grant them a divorce.
Bengaluru-based NGO, Child Rights Trust, managed to change the law in Karnataka when it successfully argued that it was unreasonable to expect a minor to come forward and contest his/her marriage. Today, Karnataka is the first Indian state to have declared that all child marriages are void ab initio (void at the outset).
However, this too is fraught with concern as it could further disempower young girls. “Imagine the plight of victims who have been forcibly sent to their husband’s homes, lived there for a while and possibly even had children, only to learn that their marriages have no legal standing.”
Experts feel that the solution lies in preventing child marriages from taking place and then ensuring the necessary follow ups. “When a district administration foils an attempted child marriage, the news is all over the media,” says Bharti. “But I’ve often seen that once the brouhaha dies down, the family quietly goes and performs the ceremony.”
In Rajasthan, where the highest number of child marriages take place, the government is especially vigilant during the festival of Akha Teej since traditionally, this is the time when many of these marriages are solemnised. But activists feel that the effort needs to be an ongoing one. “The administration needs to be alert all the year round— not just during one particular festival,” says Bharti.
Co-optinggovernmentschools, hospitalsandNGOsintheexercisecould alsohelpincheckingchildmarriage. The NationalHumanRightsCommission’s (NHRC) coregrouponchildmarriagerecentlyrecommendedthattheRighttoEducationbeextendedtoallstudentsupto18 yearsofageasthiscouldencouragepeople topostponemarriagebyacoupleofyears.
Someactivistssaythatthekeytorooting outchildmarriageisnottotreatitasacrime andpunishit, butasasocialillnessthat needstobecured. SaysRaziaIsmailofthe
IndiaAllianceforChildRights,“Weneedto makedaughtersmorevisibleinthe community. Andthegovernmentneedsto engageinfriendlyinteractionswiththe communitytounderstandwhypeople persistindoingwhattheydo.”
Ismail feels that there should be a continuous dialogue on the issue with community and religious leaders, storytellers and even pop culture icons. This approach, which she refers to as `anticipatory governance’, could go a long way in changing cultural perceptions about gender roles and child marriage.
Indeed, until and unless cultural attitudes change, the law alone cannot stamp out a social evil like child marriage that damages thousands of young lives in India.