Hyderabad: “My mother told me that she got married when she was 14 years old and asked me not to worry. But I was worried. My friends would join new schools next year, and I would be stuck in my husband's house, helping my mother-in-law in the kitchen,” said Beena (name changed), 14, a child bride rescued by Childline officials from Hayathnagar.
Another child bride rescued from Shamshabad was just 13 years old and her worry was that she would not be able to play with her friends any more. “As a married woman I will have to fulfill a wife’s duties and I heard elders saying it was not easy,” she said.
Most child brides are extremely anxious about their future; they have little choice but to obey their parents. When a marriage proposal comes at such an early age, child brides don't know what they can do: Seek help from outsiders (Childline, police, child rights activist etc) to escape or obey their parents so that they don't lose their family. A 15-year-old child bride rescued from Rajendranagar recalled her ordeal.
“My parents fixed my wedding date just two weeks after they started searching for a match. They did not even ask me if I liked the man. Six days before the wedding, I cried and told my mother that I did not want to get married. She tried to convince me about my future prospects but started crying when I did not relent," she said. The mother said it would be difficult for the family to save a huge dowry in the future.
“I gave up but the next two days were extremely difficult for me. The thought of dropping out of school and getting married to a stranger killed me. I informed one of my classmates, who immediately alerted Childline,” said the girl, who is now completing her Class 10 education. After her rescue, officials of Child Welfare Committee convinced her parents to send her back to school and not to get her married until she completed her studies.
While many rescued children are put at up at girls’ homes in city, others are sent back to their family after obtaining assurances from the parents that they will not be pushed into marriage. Child Welfare Commi-ttee chairperson V. Padmavathi said: “Majority of children want to be rescued from early marriages. There were instances in which child brides directly contacted us, seeking help as they wanted to continue their education.”
