No stopping child marriages

Thu, May 8 12:45 AM

The administration was on high alert and informers had been pressed into service in far-flung areas. Yet, scores of child marriages were solemnized in the interior parts of the state on Akha Teej on Wednesday.

In Bah, a sub tehsil in Jodhpur district on the Phalodi Bikaner highway, eight-year-old Likhma, the bridegroom, clad in wedding finery, walked ahead, while his five-year-old bride Genu followed. They thought it was a game, after which they had been promised a delicious meal.

Elders, well aware that child marriage is illegal, insisted it was all a charade. "They are playing dulha-dulhi.

It is a ritual that brings good luck," said the girl's father. It was no game.

Weddings are held on Akha Teej because it is believed a good monsoon will follow. Curiously, even some Muslim communities prefer to arrange their weddings on Akha Teej.

"I just saw a huge child marriage in Shekhasar Panchayat where four brothers got seven children married. The youngest bride was of just two years old," said Bhinya Ram a local resident.

A revenue department official posted in Phalodi Tehsil said, "We have to live here and can't risk the wrath of locals. Many members of panchayats are not only participating in such marriages but also supporting them.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY