Jaipur, December 24
As much as 50 kg wheat, 5 kg ghee, 3 kg cooking oil, tea and a few cakes
of detergent soap was all that made a widow and mother of six children
to marry her 12-year-old daughter to a 35-year-old man in Channa Bakhar
village of Jodhpur district.
The shocking child marriage took place secretly in the village last
weekend with the members of family hiding it even from the villagers.
But the moment the news leaked, village panchayat and Sen Samaj (having
a majority in the village) declared the marriage null and void.
The villagers have strongly come together to save the girl. The
“Baalika Vadhu” has reportedly gone into hiding while her
‘husband’ Gajendra Sen and his parents were absconding.
SP P Ram told The Tribune that a police team was taking statement of
the family and the villagers. “We rushed our team to the spot on
getting information about the marriage. So far, nobody has lodged any
complaints,” he added.
The mother Hawa Devi has her own tale of woes. Her husband Champa Lal
Sen died three years ago leaving her alone to take care of six children,
including five daughters and a son. She managed to marry off two elder
daughters, but is unable to get the rest married.
A police official said Hawa Devi’s brother had arranged the
marriage. As child marriages were banned in the state, the family
performed the ceremony secretly in the girl’s maternal uncle’s house
in another village.
The girl reportedly stayed in her in-law’s house for a couple of
days before news of the marriage leaked out.
