Hundreds of Children Marry in India
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James Joyner | Saturday, May 14, 2005 |
Hundreds of underaged children married in India this week, in violation of laws requiring women be 18 and men 21 to marry.
Hundreds of Children Marry in India (AP)
Ignoring laws that ban child marriages, hundreds of children, some as young as seven years old, were married this week in a centuries-old custom across central and western India. Held to coincide with “Akkha Teej,” a summer festival believed to be auspicious for weddings, the marriages took place mostly in small towns and villages, where the laws have little effect and officials could do little more than record the names of the children being married.
Hundreds of children were married this week in Rajgarh, about 65 miles northwest of Bhopal, the capital of the central state of Madhya Pradesh. “The law to stop child marriage is not powerful enough,” Girija Mewada, a police constable posted at a Hindu temple in Rajgarh, said Wednesday, as she noted down the names of young couples who went to the temple for wedding blessings.
India law prohibits marriage for women younger than 18 and men under age 21, and parents who break the law %u2014 nearly all such marriages are arranged by parents %u2014 can be jailed for up to three months. But while the practice is dying out among urban, educated people, child marriages remain common in rural areas. There, it is seen as being beneficial for both families: The bride’s parents don’t have to support her for very long, and the groom’s family gains an unpaid servant, often treated as virtual slave, who usually brings a dowry.
The children remain in their parents’ houses, though, until the girl reaches puberty, after which she is brought to the groom’s home with great ceremony and the marriage is consummated.
While this sounds rather barbaric from our current perspective, it was not particularly uncommon for girls, especially in rural areas, to marry in their very early teens here in the United States a couple of generations ago. Postponing marriage into ones twenties and later only becomes the norm in societies where educating women is a priority.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Indeed, it was very common for teenagers to marry aging (in their 70's and 80's) civil war vets so they would inherit the pensions when the vet died.
It happened in the north as well as the south.
Indeed, it was common for women in their teens to marry aging (in their 70's and 80's) civil war veterans so they would inherit the pensions after the vet died.
It happened in the north as well as the south.
As obnoxious as my 15 year old son has been lately, I endorse the return of early marriage----let some other hapless female deal with him!
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