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The news of Jharhand's BJP chief's son marrying a 11 year old minor has caused a stir. Why does child marriage persist in India?
The news of Jharhand’s BJP chief’s son marrying a minor has caused a stir. Why does this practice persist in India?
A complaint was lodged against ruling BJP’s Jharkhand unit chief- Tala Marandi and his son Munna after the latter reportedly married a 11-year-old girl. Prior to this, he was accused of sexual harassment by another minor who became a victim of his false promises of marriage.
Ironically, the people responsible for uplifting the country and extricating it from the bigotries of society are themselves indulging in such heinous acts.
The pertinent question that arises is that why are young girls forced into the institution of marriage that has nothing to offer except injustice and violence. According to statistics, India has the highest number of child brides in the country and 47% of girls are married in India before their 18th birthday.
Despite the legal age of girls to marry being 18, an umpteen cases of child marriage are reported every day across the country. A majority of women’s subordinate position in the society is the major cause of this problem. Girls are often perceived as an ‘economic liability’ by families since they do not play any role in supplementing the family’s income.
They are married off at an early age to cut down on dowry costs. They are discouraged from getting educated and establishing an identity for themselves. Their role as the primary caregiver is so entrenched into our patriarchal society that marriage seems the only option for them to ensure that girls do not digress from what their parents feel they are destined to do.
In some cases, girls are married off the moment they attain puberty. The husband, thus, becomes the sole owner of the wife’s body controlling her sexuality in a way that often proves detrimental to her well-being. Her sole purpose of producing off-springs is reiterated.
Caught in a cobweb of responsibilities, her chances of becoming conscious of her own being become sparse. Men, in our society, often reap benefits of this emotional and financial paralysis that they face.
It is time to give girls and women their due. Forcing them into marriage, is a barbaric act which society needs to condemn vociferously. Like men, women must have all the rights to assert themselves. Education can work wonders for their emancipation.
Anyone forcing their daughter into child marriage must be strictly dealt with. Its only through these changes that life for women can become worth living.
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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