Jodhpur: On Monday, a shocking case of child marriage came to the fore. Anita, who was trapped in the shackles of child marriage at the age of just four months, finally won her freedom from the unwanted union when the family court annulled the marriage. She was trapped in this marriage for almost 20 years.
Judge Varun Talwar of Jodhpur’s Family Court No. 2 gave a historic decision to annul Anita’s child marriage. The family court, during its verdict in the case of annulment of child marriage, ordered the husband to pay the litigation expenses to the child bride.
Anita (21), who hails from a farmer family and is the resident of a rural area of Jodhpur district, was married as a child at the age of just four months. Anita’s woes started when her in-laws began pressuring the parents to get the young girl’s ‘Gauna’ done and send her to her in-laws house.
Unable to suffer the brunt of child marriage, Anita was fortunate to receive information about the campaign of one Kriti Bharti of Saarthi Trust Jodhpur to abolish child marriages.
Anita met Kriti and expressed her pain. Kriti then filed a case for annulment of Anita’s child marriage in Family Court No. 2 of Jodhpur.
Kriti Bharti argued on Anita’s behalf in the family court, after which the judge passed an order to annul the marriage that took place 20 years ago when Anita was just four months old.
Due to the efforts of Kriti of Saarthi Trust, the court has set a new example by deciding that the girl bride should receive the expenses of the case from her husband.
Justice Talwar observed that child marriage was not only a vice but also a crime which spoils the future of children.
“If the girl or boy does not want to continue the child marriage, then they have the right to cancel the child marriage. To eradicate the evil of child marriage, significant efforts are needed at the society level,” Justice Talwar said.
Kriti said that after getting Anita’s child marriage annulled, better rehabilitation efforts were being made for her. “The aim of my campaign is to ensure that child marriage gets buried in the history books,” she said.
A grateful Anita stated, “With the help of Kriti Didi, I have become free from the bondage of child marriage. Now I will stand on my feet and fulfil my dreams.”
–IANS
