Married at age of 4 months, Rajasthan girl freed from child marriage after 20 years

Jodhpur, Sep 30 (IANS) Anita, who was trapped in the shackles of child marriage at the age of just four months, finally got freedom from child marriage after suffering for almost 20 years on Monday.

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 to husband to pay the litigation expenses to the child bride.

21-year-old Anita, daughter of a farmer family resident of a rural area of Jodhpur district, was married as a child at the age of just 4 months. Thereafter, she continued to suffer the brunt of child marriage. Her in-laws were constantly pressuring her to get her ‘Gauna’ done and send her to her in-laws.

Meanwhile, Anita got 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 advocated on Anita's behalf in the family court and made the court aware of the facts related to child marriage and age. After which Judge Varun Talwar of Family Court No. 2 gave a historic decision to annul the child marriage that took place 20 years ago when Anita was just 4 months old.

Due to the efforts of Kriti of Saarthi Trust, the court has set a new example by giving a decision to the girl bride to get the expenses of the case from her husband.

Justice Talwar said that child marriage is 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 are now being made for her. The aim of my campaign is to ensure that child marriage gets buried in the history books, she said.

Anita said, "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

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