Married at 10, free woman at 19
FREEDOM AT LAST Pinki Kanwar, who was a child bride, got her marriage annulled at a family court in Jodhpur I suffered for a decade and lived my life in fear. With Kriti didi’s help my child marriage is over and now I will study and become a teacher PINKI KANWAR , a child marriage victim JAIPUR:
At the age of 10, Alwar’s Pinki Kanwar was married to Himmat Singh of Dausa. At 19, she has succeeded in getting her child marriage annulled with the help of an NGO.
As a child bride, she lived her life in terror and underwent mental torture. People from her community pressurised her mother, who is a single parent, to get Pinki married at a young age.
After the wedding, Pinki’s didn’t go to her in laws house as she was a child, but later her in-laws started pressurising her to come and live with them.
Her husband and in-laws frequently visited per home and even tried to kidnap Pinki and take her to their place. For nine years, Pinki and her mother, Meena Devi, lived in terror.
Meanwhile, Meena Devi got information about a child marriage annulment campaign by Dr Kriti Bharti of Saarthi Trust in Jodhpur. They went and met Dr Bharti.
After this, Pinki’s in-laws to her house and tried to kidnap her, but her neighbours saved her. Meena Devi and Pinki narrated their ordeal to Dr Bharti.
Bharati called Pinki to Jodhpur and provided her protection and made her prepare for PTET exams. She cleared it and got admission in a college in Jodhpur. At present, Pinki is studying B.Ed in Jodhpur.
In June, Kanwar with the help of Dr Bharti, the rehabilitation psychologist and managing trustee of Saarthi Trust filed a petition in the Family Court-1 of Jodhpur to annul Pinki’s child marriage.
Dr Bharti appeared for Pinki and presented documents relating to her age and forceful child marriage.
She also informed the court about the physical disability of the man and his incurable disease.
Judge Rekha Bhargava of the family court-1 of Jodhpur issued an order to annul Pinki’s child marriage on Wednesday, which took place 10 years ago.
As the verdict was pronounced tears rolled down Pinki’s cheeks and she and her mother hugged Dr Bharti.
“I suffered for a decade and lived my life in fear. With Kriti didi’s help my child marriage is over and now I will study and become a teacher,” said Pinki.
National Family Health Survey (2015-16) data shows that 26.8% of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday. In Rajasthan, the percentage of such girls is 35.
Dr Bharti said, “Efforts are being made for Pinki’s rehabilitation.”
Dr Bharti is associated with a unique movement and got a child marriage annulled for the first time in India and then after in 2015 she got two more child marriages annulled in three days of court proceedings and created a history.
For that, she found a place in the World Records of India and also in Limca Book of World Records.
Saarthi Trust has got 35 child marriages annulled in India and also prevented thousands of child marriages.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that sexual intercourse with a wife aged between 15 and 18 is rape and a punishable offence, a landmark decision hailed by activists.
Before that, India added a clause for annulment in the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006. The law replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929.
The 2006 law said marriages solemnised in childhood could be nullified within two years of the partners attaining maturity, Bharti said.