To one’s surprise, the committee was rather relaxed and let the family off after getting an apology letter written from them. “I saw with my own eyes, the girl’s relative threatened her to lie about her age. After that they told her to say that she will commit suicide, if asked questions. How can you let someone like this go? To make matters worse, the girl and her family went to the groom’s house, even after submitting the apology letter. Who is to know if he forces himself upon her or if they solemnize the marriage now?”, the activist asked.
When they were about to file an FIR, bride’s father Ponnurangan pleaded to not do so as that would put his government job under risk.
According to NCRB, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of child marriages. There are nearly 5,500 girls married under the age of 15 in Chennai alone. Since 2011, there has only been a continuous increase due to such committes leaving these ceremonies unchecked.
“See, they are from a Scheduled Tribe and it is in their culture to get their children married early. Moreover, the child seems to have been getting friendly with a boy, so naturally the parents will be worried. So, they wanted to get her married to her uncle,” a member of the child welfare committee told the media.
“How will the number of child marriages reduce, if committees meant to protect these children, remain lax about their futures?” Enoch asked.
If the child welfare members themselves have such defensive responses, there’s not much one can do to avoid the number of child marriages to drop down. The committee should be more focused on the actual issue and families be it of any cast need to be educated about the consequences of child marriage on their own child.
