Uphill Battle Against Child Marriage Is Winning in India, for Now
- 6 years ago
Uphill Battle Against Child Marriage Is Winning in India, for Now
As for Ms. Kumari’s police statement that he tried to marry her against her will,
Mr. Chaudhary posed a rhetorical question: "Now, she is scared of the police.
With the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Prevention Act, Indian lawmakers criminalized
child marriage, imposing a jail sentence of up to two years or a fine for offenders.
How can she say she wants to get married?" Amused with the scrum
that had formed around Mr. Chaudhary, a man in a white dhoti spoke up in English from the back of the crowd, announcing himself as Kailash Mishra, the landowner who employed the girl’s father in his fields.
"I want to study." India’s child marriage rate is one of the highest in the world, with a long list of social
and economic pressures, from poverty to a dearth of education opportunities, propping up the number.
"They think they are not doing the right thing, they think they are doing wrong." But unlike consumption of alcohol, child marriage is socially accepted in parts of India, where there is a belief
that marrying daughters off at a young age shields them from unwelcome sexual advances and consolidates families’ status in a community.
Mr. Mishra was that They are fearing that if a daughter grows up, she’ll meet some boys on her own.
As night fell on Madhura, Mr. Chaudhary sounded a halfhearted call for Ms. Kumari to make an appearance.
As for Ms. Kumari’s police statement that he tried to marry her against her will,
Mr. Chaudhary posed a rhetorical question: "Now, she is scared of the police.
With the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Prevention Act, Indian lawmakers criminalized
child marriage, imposing a jail sentence of up to two years or a fine for offenders.
How can she say she wants to get married?" Amused with the scrum
that had formed around Mr. Chaudhary, a man in a white dhoti spoke up in English from the back of the crowd, announcing himself as Kailash Mishra, the landowner who employed the girl’s father in his fields.
"I want to study." India’s child marriage rate is one of the highest in the world, with a long list of social
and economic pressures, from poverty to a dearth of education opportunities, propping up the number.
"They think they are not doing the right thing, they think they are doing wrong." But unlike consumption of alcohol, child marriage is socially accepted in parts of India, where there is a belief
that marrying daughters off at a young age shields them from unwelcome sexual advances and consolidates families’ status in a community.
Mr. Mishra was that They are fearing that if a daughter grows up, she’ll meet some boys on her own.
As night fell on Madhura, Mr. Chaudhary sounded a halfhearted call for Ms. Kumari to make an appearance.