Not Only Minor Raj Girls, Boys Too Dial Child Panel To Stop Weddings | Jaipur News
In the past year, the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (RSCPCR) has received at least 50 calls from different districts where boys have requested officials to come and stop their marriages.
The primary reason for boys to make these calls is the fear that getting married might affect their preparations for the armed forces or education, said officials. The officials further said many a times, young boys do not want the additional responsibility of marriage as they do not understand how to handle it.
“We have been conducting rigorous outreach programmes since the past two years. We are now noticing that children, especially boys, have started calling us up directly requesting to stop their marriages. The calls come on 1098 helpline or directly on my number and at times they do not even feel comfortable talking to the local authorities but only to me or other senior officials. They feel that locals might not understand the extent of their problem and might try to solve the issue with a compromise. We have stopped at least 50 marriages in the past one year, where we got calls from boys,” said RSCPCR chairperson Sangeeta Beniwal.
Elaborating more on the reasons, a senior official from the commission said, “Boys in Rajasthan start preparing for armed forces from the age of 13-14, and the marriages usually take place between the age of 15-18. In such a situation, boys get scared that their preparations will get hampered. Further, if someone wants to go outside for higher education, boys fear that they might not be allowed to go beyond the nearest big city or town because of the responsibilities back home.”
Child rights experts said from 2006 (when the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act came into effect) till 2018, most of the work by the commission and social activists was being done on stopping child marriages and ensuring to declare such marriages as null and void. But now, the focus has shifted to making sure that children know their rights and can approach authorities with their issues through the various helpline numbers.
Former RSCPCR member Shailendra Pandya said, “During festive occasions like Akshaya Tritiya or other auspicious days, children call up the helplines on their own seeking help to stop their marriage. In Rajasthan, a major reason for boys getting married early is the Aata Sata tradition…”
Aata Sata pratha is a tradition where if the elder brother of a family is getting married, then the groom’s family tells the bride’s family that they will go ahead with the marriage only if the bride’s family arranges a girl for the younger brother too.
“This happens due to skewed sex ratio in the state and in such situation young boys are not able to voice their inhibitions and are forced into marriage because otherwise the elder brother’s marriage also gets impacted. Parents feel that if both marriages can be done together, it will be cost effective,” added Pandey.
