Jodhpur court annuls child marriage

Yash Goyal

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Jodhpur, October 9

A family court in Jodhpur today annulled the marriage of a young woman who had been married off when she was just 12.

For Sushila, 18, it is a big victory. She had left her house a night before the “gauna” ceremony (associated with the consummation of marriage). Sushila, living in a shelter home, had approached the family court with the help of NGO Saarthi Trust to annul her child marriage.

In this case, Facebook came as a great help as managing trustee of Saarthi Trust Kriti Bharti collected evidence via it and presented it in the court. The family court has given a strict message to the society over the evil of child marriage, Kriti said.

Sushila, a resident of Bhandiyawas, Barmer, was married to Naresh of Bisalpur village of Jodhpur at the age of 12 in 2010. Her parents stopped sending her to school and last year started preparations for her “gauna”. Sushila pleaded with them for the annulment of her child marriage. When her parents did not relent, she left home on April 27, 2016.