Indian woman helps child brides annul marriages

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) – Setting an example to uphold human rights, Kriti Bharti, 34, an Indian rehabilitation psychologist, has been braving death threats to save and rehabilitate victims of child marriages over the past decade.

After obtaining the country's first annulment of child marriage in 2012, she has become the country’s most successful campaigner against the scourge.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, on eve of World Human Rights Day, being observed on Friday, Bharti, now managing director of Saarthi Trust – a non-profit organization that protects victims of child marriages – said there had been an increase in child marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There was an increase. We received a lot of calls about marriages taking place during that period. The administration was busy dealing with the pandemic, so many families quietly went ahead with the marriages," she said.

Data compiled by India's National Crime Records Bureau also indicates that there was a rise in cases of child marriages in 2020 – 785 cases were registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) last year, up from 523 in 2019.

Hailing from India’s northern province of Rajasthan, Bharti has so far helped annul marriages of 43 underage girls and stopped more than 1,500 child marriages.

"In 2012 in Rajasthan I annulled the marriage of a boy and girl who were married at the age of three and one, respectively. That was the beginning," she said.

According to the UN Children's Fund, an estimated 1.5 million underage girls are married in India each year.

Despite tough legislation – the PCMA adopted in 2006 – which prohibits the solemnization of child marriage below the age of 18 for girls and 21 for boys, the practice continues in rural areas.

- Poor implementation of laws

"We have laws in place, but they are not being properly implemented. I think the government is not enforcing the law properly. In the act, there is a child marriage annulment and that area needs to be focused on," she said.

She has managed to seek oath from 25,000 people who have vowed not to perform or support child marriages.

In several areas especially rural and poor sections, weddings are solemnized at very young ages, and the bride is sent to her in-laws mostly in her teens.

Bharti said that her disturbed childhood turned her into a crusader. She said that at many places, people treat early marriages as their culture.

"In our state, and many parts, we have talked to parents, what we can conclude is that it is a cultural and traditional practice in the society," she said.

Many parents feel that early marriages were an antidote to preventing rape and sexual offenses.

Bharti’s home province Rajasthan is now leading among provinces, where the maximum number of child marriages have been annulled.

Seeking more government intervention and support, she said rehabilitation, shelter, empowerment, and education of victims were foremost important for the victims of child marriages.

In her state, Bharti says, the activists recently had to fight for the withdrawal of a proposed move, that would have legitimized child marriages.

"Recently, they (government) tried to bring child marriage registration to our state. We opposed it and then had to withdraw the bill," she said, adding that the punishment section of the law is not strong and change of mindset among people in need of the hour.

- Challenges in implementation

A 2018 report by the Centre for Law and Policy Research in the Indian city of Bengaluru and the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York mentioned several challenges in the implementation of existing Indian law.

It said that even when child marriages are reported, only a few cases are fully prosecuted and listed social barriers in reporting of cases and filing of complaints; Lack of structural support in implementing legal protections against child marriage as the challenges.

Last week, India's Ministry of Women and Child Development said that the government has enacted the legislation to ban child marriages and it undertakes awareness drives in the form of media campaigns, and outreach programs frequently. Further, to combat this practice, the ministry issues advisories to the provinces from time to time to highlight the evil effects of this practice.