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B. McPherson
While child marriages are illegal in India, they still happen for various reasons. Laxmi Sargara was promised at the age of one to marry. Her groom at the time was three years old. She was not informed of the contract until recently when she was a teenager. Laxmi objected. That was a very brave thing to do as repercussions from such disobedience can be very harsh, including gang rape and death. Still she continued with her objections. She managed to contact a social worker who took up her case.
The social worker convinced the groom that he really didn’t want to be saddled with a wife who would risk everything to avoid living with him. He agreed to the legal annulment, a first for India.
"It is the first example we know of a couple wed in childhood wanting the marriage to be annulled, and we hope that others take inspiration from it," Kriti Bharti, the social worker who orchestrated the annulment, told AFP. Shine from Yahoo
Hats off to a very brave and determined young woman.
Tags: child abuse, child brides, laxmi sargara
While child marriages are illegal in India, they still happen for various reasons. Laxmi Sargara was promised at the age of one to marry. Her groom at the time was three years old. She was not informed of the contract until recently when she was a teenager. Laxmi objected. That was a very brave thing to do as repercussions from such disobedience can be very harsh, including gang rape and death. Still she continued with her objections. She managed to contact a social worker who took up her case.
The social worker convinced the groom that he really didn’t want to be saddled with a wife who would risk everything to avoid living with him. He agreed to the legal annulment, a first for India.
"It is the first example we know of a couple wed in childhood wanting the marriage to be annulled, and we hope that others take inspiration from it," Kriti Bharti, the social worker who orchestrated the annulment, told AFP. Shine from Yahoo
Hats off to a very brave and determined young woman.
Tags: child abuse, child brides, laxmi sargara
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