Family court annuls child marriage

Jodhpur: A family court here on Monday annulled a child marriage. The petitioner, a minor girl, had moved a petition in the court last year pleading annulment of her marriage, which had been solemnized in 2010, when she was 12 years old.

Her family members had been preparing for her 'gauna' last year by discontinuing her studies but unwilling to accept this marriage and having failed to convince her parents, Sushila had left her home on April 27, 2016 after informing the managing trustee of Saarthi Trust, Kriti Bharti, who rescued her the same night and accommodated her in children's home after taking her custody from the Bal Kalyan Samiti of Barmer.

Bharti said that after her accommodation in children's home, a petition was moved in the family court praying for the annulment of her marriage with minor husband Naresh.

"But in the court, Naresh denied that the marriage had been solemnized and instead said that it was just a preparation for the engagement", Bharti said.

In order to prove that he was lying in the court, social media site Facebook proved as a boon for the girl. Bharti, who argued the case on behalf of Sushila, collected evidences from the Facebook account of Naresh and arranged witnesses corroborating the solemnization of the wedding.

"We arranged all the required proofs and documents including the age certificates of the two and appealed to the court to grant annulment of this child marriage," Bharti said.

After hearing the arguments, the presiding officer of the family court (1) Rekha Bhargava finally ordered the annulment of the wedding, which had been solemnized seven years back.

Delighted with the order, Sushila said that she felt like she had been prisoned and now she was free to pursue her dreams. She said that she would now pursue her studies and would become a police officer.

Hailing the order, the chairman of the Bal Kalyan Samiti, Rajendra Chawda said that this is a strong message by the court against the social evil of child marriage. Bharti said that after winning this fight for freedom, the Trust will now prepare for Sushila's rehabilitation and provide her support to meet her dreams.