JAIPUR: A case of child marriage through what is called watta-satta marriage locally – where a sister-brother pair are married off to siblings in another family – was prevented in Udaipur’s Hariyav village in Vallabhnagar tehsil.
Representatives of NGO National Campaign for the Eradication of Child Labour based in Delhi got wind of the marriage and alerted local authorities.
Deputy SP Ghanshyam Sharma in charge of the Vallabhnagar tehsil area said, “This matter falls under the purview of the Dabok police station. In such cases, local authorities approach police for an FIR. A legal notice has been served. One marriage had already occurred, one was prevented. The matter will be taken to court today. Once authorities approach us seeking an FIR, that too will be registered.”
Nirmal Gorana, the activist who first brought this matter to light, said, “One marriage had already occurred by the time we were alerted on Thursday. The other one was scheduled for Saturday.”
Watta-satta is an exchange marriage prevalent in the region, extending even as far as Afghanistan. It is offered by sociologists as an explanation for both high domestic violence – because any disruption in the marital harmony in one couple might have ripple effects in the other couple; and for high domestic amity, as families are closely interlocked through this system of marriage.
It ensures that there is great social pressure on the couple to stay in the marriage; bride exchange also reduces the chances of exorbitant dowry demands.
In this case, the marriages were in the Rajput community. One of the families is of a large farmer in the area, and the bride-to-be had studied up to Class 8. Gorana told TOI that other children in the family had been married before they had attained legal age for marriage.
Representative image