Around 22% girls in Rajasthan are given in marriage before they reach the age of 18.
Bhanu (not her real name) is only 17 years old. But in December, she tried to commit suicide, unable to face the pressure of a court case to end her marriage, which took place four years ago. Today, she is determined to fight.
She is one of the 22% girls who become child brides every year in Rajasthan. In absence of education and legal support, the custom is deeply entrenched in the villages the state. And despite the marriage being illegal, it has to be voided through a legal process.
It was Bhanu's grandfather who had got her married without the knowledge of her parents when she had gone to stay for a spell with them in Ajmer. He allegedly got Rs 2 lakh from the groom.
Her husband is 55 years old, a man with children and grandchildren, said her father. But her in-laws still insist that she stay with them - a prospect that gives her the jitters.
"For the last three years I have been trying to annul my child's marriage, but this man is not giving his consent and the case is dragging on," said her father, who lives in Jodhpur.
It was the trauma of the hearings that pushed his daughter to suicide. "On the day of my hearing, I got very upset. I tried to commit suicide," she said.
The trauma was no less for 19-year-old Santa Devi Meghwal, who filed an application for annulment in the Jodhpur family court today. She was married when she was just 11 months old.
"I pray to god that this ends soon and the society sees reason. The court will now send my husband a notice. I hope he comes and signs it," she said.