By Yashi Jain
Child marriage or early marriage is defined as the union between two people in which one or both the parties are younger than eighteen years of age. At the core of it, this practice has been widely popular amongst Indians as patriarchy prevails in more ways than one in the country. However, the nation has managed to come a long way since the 20th century and control the practice to some extent. Despite these efforts, there continues to be a district in Kerala where this practice is still quite popular.
Malappurama very populous district in Keralaeven today believes in child marriage. Parents of young girls in the district break the law in order to get the burden off their chest; the burden here referring to their girl child. This practice is rooted in gender inequality and the very patriarchal belief that females are inferior to males. In other words, patriarchy, lack of education, lack of awareness, and poverty has made this district the shame of the state. According to 2011 census23,183 girls below the age of 15 got married and the majority of them belonged to the Malappuram district.
Getting rid of the burden
The reason this custom is widespread is that parents continue to believe that they will be better off if they are able to send their girl child off to their husband’s house. They worry about the girl getting into some sort of trouble before her marriage and not finding any boy for her later, so the earlier the better. They are of the mindset that the only purpose of girls is to get married and start another family, and definitely not education. Hence, the parents are unable to refuse the man who agrees to marry their daughter without any dowry. It is like a fortune for the poverty-stricken, for whom education is secondary. The ethos of this southern district is far away from what the country is trying to achieve by its feminist movements.
Religious centres have often played a significant role with Mahallu committees themselves facilitating such marriages. With Malappuram being a Muslim dominant area, most cases of child marriage come from those communities. However, this does not mean that other communities do not practice the same. There are cases reported from Hindu communities, SC/ST communities, as well as tribal population.
Less education equals better marriage prospects
Most of the young men of the district stop their education at a very young age, probably in high school. They opt out to secure employment in Gulf nations. In such cases, it becomes counterproductive for parents of young girls to educate them as it is a common belief that a girl must not be more educated than her husband. Often girls are married off with the promise that the in-laws will continue their education but these are often false and never does the girl go back to studying.
Given these circumstances, where neither the parent nor the community is educated enough, where the parents are looking to settle their daughters in good families, where poverty hits them at their back every single day, child marriage comes very naturally to them. The idea that their girl child could take them out of poverty and even their dire conditions if they educate her instead of making her a young bride, does not seem to cross the minds of these parents.
Consequences and concerns
The consequences of early marriage are visibly very bad for the girl and she could suffer all her life. However, parents term those difficulties as her ‘fate’ and don’t see it as their own mistake. Given the fact that education stops after marriage, child marriage has a strong detrimental impact on a girls agency. Matters get worse when child marriage turns into child pregnancy and mental, physical and emotional distress follow. In most cases, a girl is likely to get pregnant a year into the marriage even though she is not ready for it. She does not have the education to understand the consequences, let alone the physical complications that the pregnancy can have.
Most of the girls do not have the option of saying “no” as marriages are arranged and they are not equipped enough to have a say. Their surrounding is also full of like-minded people. Peer pressure also plays a role as when a young girl sees another getting married and having new possessions, it somehow makes her want the same. Though it does not apply to all, it is also one of the concerns. The parents even ensure that the marriages are kept a secret even from their neighbours so that they do not get reported to the government or the Child Welfare Committee. They often conduct them during the summer vacation when the girls are not in contact with anyone outside the family.
Apart from these, the major concern is the cycle never stopping and the mindset never changing. Things will never change if the community continues to have these marriages and no one gets an education or is ready to change their mentality and come out of their circumscription. It will continue to affect generation after generation like a vicious circle.
Taking a stand
Despite multiple attempts by the government and NGOs, child marriages still show a strong pattern in Malappuram. Many girls are able to report the marriages themselves to the police or the government who are then able to intervene and stop the act. Many also ask their school teachers for help. However, the girls are worried that no one can stop it after they turn eighteen and they will have to get married forcefully even though they would want to study further. Malappuram Childline Coordinator believes that with the coming of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2016, the law has been strict and so has been the enforcement. Thanks to the court and welfare committees that some marriages have been aborted.
Earlier this year, more than a hundred girls gathered at an Anganwadi with a single objective that they wanted to enjoy their childhood. They joined the campaign and decided that they would not only guard themselves against child marriage but also spread awareness on its ill-effects. The gathering was organised by the District Child Protection Unit after it found that the practice was very common in the area.
Creating awareness for change
The Social Justice Department is undertaking a multi-pronged approach to building awareness on child marriages, beginning from school. The department, along with the Child Protection Unit, produced a film called Pathinettu, which means ‘eighteen’ in Malayalam. It is based on a sixteen years old girl, Mansiya, who walked into the police station to stop her own wedding. The film is being screened in schools to spread awareness. At the local level, the welfare people are electing and empowering representatives and educating them so that they can be agents of change on the ground. When people from the same community advice others against something, it ends up having a greater impact. They are even working towards ensuring that girls have a bright futuregood education and the right to decide when they would want to get married.
Kerala, being a state applauded for its human development index and its 100% literacy, it is appalling to see child marriages taking place so extensively there. It can only be hoped that as the country continues to work towards equality for all genders, girls of Malappuram district are given the authority to their own lives.
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