For Rajasthan's Child Brides, It's A Long, Hard Road To Annulment

They have to take on revengeful spouses, greedy panchayats and provide the burden of proof. Now, a new amendment may only make it tougher

- Ketaki Desai

When Chhota Chaudhary was in class 9, she was woken up in the middle of the night and made to participate in a ceremony. The groggy teenager did as she was told but it wasn’t until later that she realised that she, and her cousins, were married that night. Three years later, the harassment from her husband became too much to bear. “He was illiterate and did drugs also. He kept forcing me to move to his house and I didn’t want to. I wanted to study more and he said if he hadn’t studied, why should I,” says the 23-year-old who is now living independently in Jodhpur. The final straw was when he dragged her on the road in the middle of the day, ripping her clothes as bystanders watched without intervening. That day she decided, no matter what, she would find her way out of this forced marriage.

It took her three years of going in and out of family court, but she finally managed to get her child marriage annulled. Child marriages may be a cognisable offence in India, but they are not inherently void, simply voidable. This means that either party to the marriage can choose to get it annulled (up until the age of 20 for girls after which they would need to file for divorce). Annulments may be the way out for those trapped in child marriages, but they aren’t easy. From dealing with jati (caste) panchayats to proving that the secretive ceremonies actually happened, the challenges are many.