The Power of Convergence Fuels a Mini-Revolution Against Child Marriage

The joyous atmosphere neutralised the effect of the blazing sun at Chhaya Kumari’s shanty, overlooking the red hills in Jharkhand’s Koderma district.

Chhaya had glitter in her eyes as she unpacked the pair of clothes she was to wear at the wedding of her elder brother, a waiter in a restaurant, roughly an hour’s drive from their house. But 17-year-old Chhaya’s joy did not last long. Chhaya’s mother informed her that nonchalantly that Chhaya would also be getting married around the same time. “I was told that on the same day, I and my brother would be getting married. The boy’s family was not demanding any dowry. They were known to us,” said Chhaya, a former child labourer in Koderma’s mica mines.

During her upbringing, Chhaya knew that child marriage was a traditional practice. She did not know the legal age of marriage for women and had no reason to think that child marriage was an offence. “As a child, it never occurred to me that it was a harmful practice,” said Chhaya. She witnessed her school friends dropping out of school after their parents married them off. Although it pained her, she did not discuss it with anyone. But things had changed by the time Chhaya’s mother informed her that they would be marrying her off in a few months.

By this time, Chhaya, a class 12 student, had become the deputy head of the children’s council or Bal Panchayat in her village – an elected 11-member body which creates awareness and mobilises people on issues related to children such as child labour, child marriage and importance of education. Bal Panchayat members participate in social, cultural, education and leadership enabling activities at local, state and central level with the purpose of putting across their demand to local authorities in relation to children’s safety and education. Such councils are part of Bal Mitra Grams. There are more than 800 BMGs spanning six states in India.

Based on the knowledge and confidence she gained at the Bal Panchayat, Chhaya was clear that she would not give in. “My peers looked up to me as someone who was knowledgeable and knew what was the right thing to do. It would have been embarrassing if they got to know that I was married as a child,” she said.

Chhaya confronted her parents. “That was the most difficult part. It is strange that as a Bal Panchayat member, I could counsel children and their families, but talking to my own parents remained a struggle,” recalled Chhaya. She firmly conveyed to her family that she would not get married 18, the legal age of marriage for women in India. She also told them that if they pressurised her to marry, she would have no option but to report them to police. Her parents did not budge. “I understand their point of view. My father has no source of income. My mother goes door-to-door selling bangles. I have a sister. Arranging dowry for two daughters is a struggle. But this does not mean that I should give my consent to the crime of child marriage,” said Chhaya. She met the man her parents wanted her to marry. Chhaya discovered that he was a school drop-out and migrated to Mumbai where he was working as a driver.

Despite Chhaya’s resistance, her marriage was scheduled for 6 June, 2023. One of the BMG members tried to intervene by counselling her parents about the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, the ill effects of child marriage on both the adolescent mother and her children, and how lack of education would keep their family perennially poor. When it did not yield result, Chhaya wrote a letter to the Block Development Officer, Uday Kumar Sinha, detailing her predicament and seeking intervention to prevent her marriage.

Responding swiftly, Sinha visited Chhaya’s parents advising them against child marriage. It left her parents furious and they put Chhaya under house-arrest for the next three days. She was given no food and was not allowed to meet anyone within or outside the house. “I was punished for opposing a crime. I cried for hours and felt terrible about the situation. But I did not give up,” recalled Chhaya.

After a few more visits by Sinha, Chhaya’s family gave him an undertaking that they would find her a match once she was above 18 years of age. Currently (October 2023), Chhaya is pursuing Bachelors in Arts at a college in her district. “My fight is on. Although my parents don’t pressurise me for marriage anymore, they keep taunting me for going against their will. Time will prove them wrong.”

--This is an excerpt from the revised edition of Bhuwan Ribhu’s book ‘When Children Have Children: Tipping Point to End Child Marriage’.