Child marriage victim gets legal notice to lead ‘happy married life with hubby’

In a strange case, a minor Hyderabadi girl, who was married to a 35-year old man when she was 16 last year, received a legal notice from her husband’s counsel to mend her ways and join him to lead a “happy married life.”Averse to share life with the man 20 years elder to her, the child marriage victim, returned to her parents place and approached child rights protection body seeking help.

The girl said her husband was reluctant to allow her to pursue higher studies. “My husband and other family members have forced me to stop studies immediately after marriage on February 25 last year, when I was studying class X,” the girl said.

The 2000 March 3 born girl was married to Palsam Srikanth on February 25, 2016. The marriage, according to her, was performed in a hurry as Srikanth’s father was in death bed and the family was keen to see him content that his son is married. Some time after the marriage, her father-in-law died.

The girl said her parents had given Rs one lakh cash, 15 tolas of gold and furniture as dowry. “I want these things back. I want to continue my studies and find a better future," she said.

Dhusharla Narender Rao, the legal counsel of Srikanth, sent a legal notice to the girl in December last week, advising her to join her husband and happy married life with him, failing which he would proceed legally against her. The lawyer said the girl had disobeyed her husband and his family members and always ill-treated them.

Hyderabad-based Balala Hakkula Sangham (Child Rights Association) president Anuradha Rao, who took up the case, said the legal notice itself is a violation of the law as child marriage has no legal sanction. “We give the girl all the support in her fight for justice. She can also continue her studies,” she said.