Akha Teej: India

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India's Underage Brides Wedded to Tradition

By REUTERS

Times of India

Filed at 7:46 p.m. ET

ALSISAR, India (Reuters) - Dusty towns and villages turn into a brief riot of color each year in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan as thousands of Hindu couples tie the knot and seek the blessings of Lord Vishnu. Guests gather while grooms in colorful turbans and brides adorned with gold jewelry and wearing red saris walk around a sacred fire, pledging to protect each other.

The festival of 'Akha Teej' sees life-long bonds forged -- and many childhoods tragically cut short. Social activists say many of those getting married are children, sometimes as young as 10, forced into wedlock yet physiologically and emotionally unprepared to be a wife.

In Alsisar, about four hours drive north of the state capital Jaipur, 14-year-old Lalita Saini will soon go and live with her 19-year-old husband from a neighboring village.

``I was married around Akha Teej last year, but I don't know my husband as I only saw him once at the wedding, said the meek, pony-tailed little girl, a blue scarf draped over her head.

``I didn't want to get married, but I had no choice. The festival, known more widely outside Rajasthan as Akshaya Tritiya, celebrates the birthday of the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, the preserver of life in the Hindu pantheon.

Despite being illegal since 1929, child marriage is still rampant in parts of India mainly due to traditional views and poor law enforcement in a conservative, male-dominated society. According to a 2006 government survey, around 45 percent of girls in India are married before the legal age of 18. Almost 30 percent of boys are wed before they reach the compulsory 21. Child rights campaigners say the impact of early marriages on girls -- and to a lesser extent boys -- is devastating. ``Girls lose their childhood, education and even risk their health due to early pregnancy, said Rajan Choudhary of Shikshit Rojgar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti (SRKPS), a charity working against child marriages in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district.