Jaipur: A class 9 student of a government school in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan approached a child helpline on Monday to stop her wedding scheduled a few days later, saying she wanted to continue going to school. Police officials were informed about the wedding scheduled on December 11 after a call was received through a child helpline run by Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said Kailash Chandra Soni, station house officer of Badi Sadri police station in Chittorgargh.
The girl was at school when a local police team reached her house. The 14-year-old girl, her parents and grandfather was later produced before the sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) office where they were legally bound under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The girl and her parents told the SDM that they weren’t keen on getting their daughter married but the girl’s grandfather and an aunt persuaded them to agree, police officer Soni said. The aunt was getting her son married under ‘Aata Saata’ centuries-old (exchange) practice where a family enters an alliance of their daughter only when her would-be in-laws also pledge to give their daughter in marriage to her family.
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Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Sangeeta Beniwal said most complaints of child marriages received by them pertain to the ‘Aata Saata’ practice. She pointed out that instances of ‘Aata Saata’ practice have increased due to the low sex ratio in the state, which makes it difficult for men to find brides. Beniwal stressed that an increasing number of girls were, however, reaching out to the commission and district administration to seek intervention due to heightened awareness. Last month, in Udaipur, the commission was able to stop the wedding of a Class 7 student who was being married to a 26-year-old man under the ‘Aata Saata’ practice.
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