Jodhpur: Married off at the age of just four months, a woman came out of a 20-year unwanted situation on Monday when a family court annulled her child marriage.
Unlike the previous annulment of the marriages solemnised in childhood, this annulment was different as the court ordered her husband to remit the expenditure incurred by Anita in the litigation process.
Daughter of a peasant father, Anita had been married off when she was four months old. When Anita attained the age of 15 years, her in-laws began pressurising the family to send her to the husband's house.
She resisted all such attempts with support from her elder sister and brother and later she came into contact with Kriti Bharti, managing trustee of Saarthi Trust.
"On Monday, the presiding officer of the family court, Varun Talwar, ordered the annulment and also directed the in-laws to reimburse her with the litigation expenditure," said Bharti.
"Child marriage is not only a vice but also a crime. This spoils the future of children. If the girl or boy does not want to continue the child marriage, then they have the right to cancel the child marriage. To eradicate the evil of child marriage, significant efforts are needed at the society level," the order read.
Anita's parents were initially against their daughter's decision but when Bharti began counselling them, they consented to support her decision to not to go to her in-laws and annul the marriage.
With the support of her family, we moved the family court and filed a plea for annulment of her marriage, Bharti said.
The husband and her family issues threats to Anita and Bharti despite her attempts to counsel them as well, she said.
The family court, on Monday, annulled the marriage and ruled in Anita's favour, Bharti added.
Ecstatic at the court order, Anita, now a final-year BA student, said she has got a fresh lease of life. "Now I will focus on my studies and will prepare for competitive exams and higher education," Anita said.
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