Why dont you also delve into matters like how in Maharashtra and Gujarat (the old Bombay State) – Hindu men can still marry multiple wives and get these marriages legally registered – and the Hindu Marriage Act has not been fully enforced.

Charu : I had seen Uma Bharati’s interview couple of months ago…i think around the time of Akhateej festival in Rajasthan…i couldnt believe the reasons that women was giving in support of child marriages. I completely agree..its all done with the goal of pleasing the un-educated public…and fillin up the vote banks.

Thanks for the article link. I also heard about a 11 year old Muslim girl..in West Bengal..who on her own went to the local police station to file a complaint against her inlaws and husband. She has been nominated for the ‘Bravery Award’ this year.

Statistics are elusive, but estimates are that 40 to 50 percent of marriages in India involve a girl under 18 or a boy under 21, the legal ages for marriage.

According to Unicef, 82 percent of girls in Rajasthan, where the practice is particularly widespread, are married by 18; 15 percent of girls in rural areas across the country are married before 13; and 52 percent of girls have their first pregnancy between 15 and 19.

Child support agencies catalogue the dire consequences that follow early marriage, particularly for girls: The child’s education is sacrificed; girls become more vulnerable to domestic violence and are weakened by early pregnancies; and babies born to girls under 17 are 60 percent are more likely to die during their first year of life. Unicef describes child marriage as a “gross violation of all categories of child rights.”

As for the women NGOs..well i guess they are doing their best..but its the lack of support that they are receiving from the government.

In an lawless village, if a girl is already “married”, a crime against her becomes a crime against two families, not just one. Ofcourse if the criminal is really powerful, he/she can still get away with it. But in an unsecure environment, its still a rational choice.

I dont know about other places, but atleast in Rajasthan, these child marriages are a two stage process. A marriage ceremony followed by a gauna ceremony. The bride does not join the husband and his family until her gauna is done a few years after the marriage. In the meanwhile, her education, vocational training can go on as usual. Sometimes, when the girl or the girls family outstrips the boys’ economically in the intervening period, the marriage is annulled – although this is difficult.

>> The punishment, a maximum of three months in prison, and a fine is not enough to stop people. Proposed changes include more punishment, a compulsory registration of all marriages rather than just religious rites, the appointment of anti-child marriage officers in every state, and making it a law that anyone who attends a child marriage has to report it.

Hasnt worked so far, wont work in the future. Its like saying that imposition of a death sentence would bring down incidence of rape. IMO Social change cant be legislated, unless ofcourse, you are an imperial power and rule with an iron fist. It has to be gradual, and has to involve the communities in question. Perhaps starting with the introduction of the concept of gauna where its not there, and introducing communitywide minimum ages for gauna and so on.

Sudeep