Two families in Chennai were all ready to get a 15-year-old girl married to her 29-year-old uncle at Annai Velankanni church situated at Besant Nagar. The child activists were warned by an unknown source a day before due to which they were able to be there in the place. To avoid any recognition or suspicion, the activists were dressed as joggers. This was also to avoid any misinformation and to collect evidence about the fact that it was actually true.
“We stopped the groom from tying the ‘thaali’ around the young girl’s neck and began asking for their age proof,” an activist Enoch Moses told the media. “They didn’t have any valid certificates and tried to tell us that she was 18 years old. After much convincing, the girl told us she was only 15,” he concluded. The groom named Vinoth Kubendran is from Vyasarpadi while the bride and her family were from Thiruvenkaadu of Nagarkoil District.
The Sashtri Nagar police were immediately informed and the two families were escorted to the station. “I had informed the Committee about the tip-off I received on Wednesday night. But instead of alerting the police, they told us to go stop the wedding ourselves. Even at the venue, the police didn’t arrive till we called the DCP,” the activist said.
So what happened finally?
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.