Child marriage rears its ugly head in Rajasthan

India has made substantial progress in reducing the incidence of child marriage over the years, but the economic hardship induced by the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to roll back the gains made so far. In the desert State, where the social malaise is culturally endemic, the recent alleged sale of girls on stamp paper to settle debts shows how the girl child is vulnerable in families that see them as a means to tide over their financial woes

On a sunny November afternoon in Banjaras, a tribal hamlet in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, 17-year-old Pooja Banjara sports a smile when asked what she aspires to be in life. Seated on a cot laid out on the mud porch of her brick house, she picks up her cell phone and reveals her WhatsApp profile picture, in which an actor is dressed up as a policewoman. It is not a far-fetched ambition for the resident of Nimdi village who has overcome tremendous social pressure to fend off marriage thrice: at the age of nine, 12 and 17.

“I was just around nine years old when my family fixed my marriage for the first time,” says Pooja, who recently enrolled herself in a local school run by an NGO. She confided in her teacher and the marriage was called off at the last moment. Her 12-year-old sister had no such luck as she was considered “old enough” to be married.

Two months ago, when COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed in the State, the family of a groom from Dausa, whom Pooja had rejected earlier, returned, seeking her hand in marriage. But she stood her ground and turned them away again.

Financial distress triggered by the closure of businesses and loss of employment during lockdowns imposed to check the spread of COVID-19 over the past two years has resulted in child marriage rearing its ugly head in Rajasthan, where the social malaise is culturally endemic. Government data show that the State has witnessed 1,216 child marriages since 2018-19. Though the country has seen a steady decline in the prevalence of the practice from 47.4% in 2005 to 23.3% in 2021, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has warned that pandemic-induced economic hardship could roll back the gains made so far.

Back in Nimdi village, Pooja’s grandmother, Aabli, has worry etched on her wrinkled face. She is concerned about “who will account for the financial loss [of calling off the wedding]” as the practice of Chari, in which the groom’s family pays a bride price, is prevalent in their Banjara community, one of the most backward groups in the country. If the bride’s family cancels the marriage, then it has to pay a hefty fine to the groom.

Sardarji, the mukhiya (head) of the 54 Banjara families in the village, confirms the prevalence of child marriage and Chari in certain communities in rural Rajasthan. He himself was just 17 when he married Kamala, who was barely 11. Now, he faces the onerous task of paying a fine of around ₹3 lakh-₹5 lakh for cancelling the engagement of his 16-year-old daughter, Aakash. The feisty girl, the second among Sardarji’s seven daughters, refused to succumb to pressure and declared that she would agree for marriage only after fulfilling her long-cherished desire of becoming a teacher.

Manish Sharma, director of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO that works to defend child rights in Jaipur and its surrounding districts, says certain marginalised communities view marriage as an easy way out of a crisis. With grooms offering up to ₹5 lakh as bride price, families marry off their daughters to tide over their financial woes. According to the NGO, it rescued 382 girls from child marriage in the State in 2020-21.