Is marriage a solution to problems?
When parents, customs, the local government and even God fails the minors of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, matrimony is the only option they have to survive.
She felt like a queen when her wedding bells were ringing. With all the paraphernalia , Sony (all names changed) knew this was her fairy-tale wedding. A dream come true, she thought. She was 15.
“I think I was foolish to feel happy for dropping out of school and getting married,” Sony says, her voice tinged with grief. Hers is a story that portrays the grim reality of how most school dropouts end up as child brides.
She says her husband, Mallesh Dongare, began his hunt for another prospective bride three years after their wedding, accusing her of frigidity. Pointing at the scars on her stomach, Sony says she was subjected to physical torture because she couldn’t conceive. “Once, while I was menstruating, my mother-in-law brought a hot iron rod and burnt my stomach,” she say, explaining that it was a superstition; a common practice in the district for women who do not conceive.
Mallesh, however, did not undergo any fertility tests as both the families put the blame on his wife. Making her life worse, Sony’s father, Rajaiah, who is a school teacher, had asked Mallesh to marry his younger, “fertile” daughter, Madhu. Following Mallesh’s second marriage, Sony was sent back to her natal home while Mallesh continues to live with her 16-year-old sister.
“Second marriage is a common practice here”, says Achyuta Rao, president of Andhra Pradesh Balala Hakkula Sangham (APBHS).
Sony belongs to Thamsi mandal in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh, where as many as 500 child marriages take place every year. Surprisingly, these figures do not reflect in the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) data that shows only 14 cases have been registered in Andhra Pradesh last year and 25 in 2010, with none being reported from Adilabad.
B. Eliah, sub-inspector (SI), crime branch, Adilabad, says, “There hasn’t been a single child marriage in the last one year.”
Eliah’s colleague, Ajay Kumar, SI at Adilabad One-Town Police Station, however, has a different take on the story. Acknowledging that child marriages are rampant, Mr. Kumar says that the average age in child marriage is up from 14 to 16.
With 68.5% of the district’s population living below poverty line and literacy levels below 30% i.e. below the national average, girls of Thamsi, Thandur, Uttnoor, Echoda and the Adilabad-Asifabad border areas have become victims of this social evil.
Last year alone, about 300 marriages, the highest in AP, have taken place in Thamsi Mandal.
A UNICEF report states that every day 25,000 child marriages take place in the world. “More than 51 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are currently married. India ranks 9th in the world with 57% of girls getting married before the age of 18 years,” it says.
In another shocker, about 30 child marriages had taken place in Rechivi village of Thandur mandal last year. Girls as young as 11 years were married off to older men in this tiny tribal hamlet. The State Human Rights Commission has submitted a report regarding this to the AP High Court.
Education: A distant dream
“This reflects the apathy of school managements to take up girl child education. Education plays a major role in procrastinating child marriages,” believes Venkat Reddy, National Convener of Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiah Foundation (MVF). “As soon as the girl is born, parents are looking for reasons to get her into wedlock. And robbing her of education is an easy way to turn her into a bride,” he says.
Like Sony was deprived of education, two tribal girls from Raiguda Ashram and four from Utnoor Ashram School were deemed unfit by their school managements and shunned out, reveals the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiah Foundation. Even after repeated pleas, the school authorities declared that they did not want to be burdened with “slow learners.”
A 57-year-old marries a 14-year-old
A teacher from a school in Echoda mandal explains: “Students of VII or VII standard don’t turn up after the summer vacation. This confirms that they have been married off. Some return to school post wedding.”
As children advance to higher classes, the number of high schools in the village wanes. Since most high schools in rural India are located outside the village, parents are fearful of their daughters’ commute. “This is when most girls drop out, as parents fear their chastity or vulnerability to sexual assault,” says Mamidi S. Chandra, director, Carped, an NGO working on women and child rights issues, and a member of the Integrate Child Protection Unit (ICPU) in Andhra Pradesh.
Often, fathers (of the brides) live in fear of their daughters being sexually violated. “In villages news spreads like rapid fire if a girl is raped. Parents lose their honour,” says Rajaiah.
Poverty, culture and tradition
Poverty, of course, plays a crucial role in these decisions. As Adilabad’s population is highly dependent on agriculture, uncertainty in income compels parents to get their daughters married off early.
In the name of culture and tradition, child marriages make their way into several Indian homes. Making a strong point in support of this “tradition,” a priest in Adilabad categorically states: “Girls are born to get married. Our culture says that they are responsible for household chores. Education is not for them.”
Because a child marriage is seen as a religious and social custom, girls accept it as part of their life. “Girls are unaware about issues like child marriage, and they do not understand what a child marriage really is. They think that getting married early is a part of their tradition and household rituals, as groomed by their parents,” says Mr Rao.
A UNICEF report states that a child marriage has precarious health effects on the mothers as well as children. “While boys are affected mentally, the consequences on girls are especially dire, as they are usually compelled into early childbearing and social isolation,” the report mentions.
Early marriages lead to early motherhood, which places young mothers and babies at high health risk.
They may also translate into repeated pregnancies at a tender age when the body is not fully prepared for child bearing. “It can lead to frequent pregnancies and abortions. Babies born are underweight, malnourished and anemic. This can lead to higher infant and maternal mortality rates,” reveals Dr. Aparna Khulbey, a general physician.
Medical findings reveal that 66.6 per cent of girls aged between 15 and 19 are more likely to experience delivery complications compared to 30-34 year-old women (59.7%).
Even as Adilabad has a total of 71 public health centres, 10 community health centres and 469 sub-centres, neo-natal and antenatal services are found to be appalling, with only 22 of the total health centres offering natal and post-natal services to pregnant mothers.
An unheeding government
Despite the lacuna between the actual number and the reported cases, the awareness has grown significantly, says Mr Kumar. “The number of cases has dropped. The police, even after trying to rescue victims, cannot stop these weddings,” he explains.
Often, there is resistance from family members when police attempts to thwart a child marriage. “There is no age proof of the girl. Hence, we cannot file a case,” Mr Kumar adds.
Moreover, these weddings are often supported by local representatives. “Because the parents of these kids are eligible voters, MLAs and other local representatives oblige to attend the wedding,” says Mr Rao.
Sony says many local representatives were present at her wedding. “It is a compulsion for them because my parents are their devout voters,” she explains.
Sometimes, local leaders initiate child marriages. “They have large tracts of land and need labour. So, they employ someone and try to get the kids of labourers married. This provides them a large workforce as the whole family works for them.”
Hardly any NGOs take up the cause exclusively because of the inherent complexities, describes Mr Reddy. The nexus between local officials and representatives and the apathy of child welfare officers has hidden many such cases from coming to light.
Perhaps, Sony’s lack of education and awareness has brought her life to a standstill at 19. But, there are millions of Sonys who can reverse this troubling trend and realise their potential by standing up for their rights and fighting for them. Else, every three seconds, a girl under the age of 18 is married off.
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