In Bihar, young girls are putting up a tough fight against child marriage

Samastipur resident Ava Kumari was just 12 when her parents made it known to her that she would be married off soon. With her father working as a daily wage labourer in Kolkata and mother a home-maker, she was told the family did not have the means to pay for her education. Each time the issue came up, a young Ava resisted making it known she wanted to study. Then one day, the parents found a boy to marry their daughter to.

A science graduate himself, Ava’s father wanted to marry her off early because he feared with his meagre earnings marrying off a grown up daughter would be difficult.

“My father was very concerned about how he will get me married and so he wanted to do it as early as possible. When my parents presented the marriage offer before me, I resisted it vehemently. It took days and days of crying and begging to make my parents understand my point,” she says.

That was just half the battle won. While the parents refused talking about marriage, they still did not have the money to provide education. And so Ava started giving tuitions to children in the village to fund her own dreams. She came very close to dropping out several times but with her determination, Ava not only managed to complete BSc but also secure a job as a constable in Bihar Police.

Currently posted in Purnea district, Ava is not satisfied as she aspires to be an inspector.
What gave Ava the confidence that she could live her dreams was the opportunity to participate in a project run by Jawahar Jyoti Bal Vikas Kendra (JJBVK), which works in collaboration with Child Rights and You (CRY). Not only did Ava draw motivation by participating in the programme, but also inspired other girls to continue studying.

For 16-year-old Priya from Damodarpur Mahuli village in Samastipur, the pressure to marry built after her sister eloped with a man. Facing the taunts of fellow villagers and concerned that the ‘disrepute’ brought to the family by the elder daughter would make it difficult to marry the younger one as well, the family began to put pressure on Priya to get married. A visit by JJBVK also failed to persuade the parents to change their minds.

As pressure grew, Priya warned her parents that if they forced her to marry, she would approach the police. It is only then that they stopped talking marriage. Priya is currently pursuing her graduation from a local college.

“No power can stop me from achieving my goals,” says Priya, who aspires to be a teacher one day.

Fifteen-year-old Sarswai Kumari had just passed Class 10 and thinking about the next class when one day told by her mother that her marriage has been fixed and that she will have to drop out of school because the family had no means to pay the fees.

Sarswati, a native of Bhatuni village in Majhaulia block of West Champaran district, has three brothers and two sisters. Her parents, both daily wagers, found their plans to marry Sarswati spoilt when she rushed to a centre run by Bihar Voluntary Health Association (BVHA) for adolescent girls. With the help of BVHA, Sarswati managed to convince her family to drop the plans to marry her and let her study. She is currently in Class 12 and preparing for her board exams.

Like Ava, Priya and Sarswati, umpteen girls in Bihar are refusing to marry early choosing instead to focus on education.

While boys also marry before the legal age of 21, girls are disproportionately affected.

Early marriage makes it more likely that girls will drop out of school, and campaigners say it also increases risks of sexual violence, domestic abuse and death in childbirth.

What numbers say

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-20), 40.8 per cent women in the age group of 20 to 24 were married before 18 years of age against 42.5 per cent reported in NFHS-4 (2015-16). As per NFHS-5, 30.5 per cent men in the age group of 25 to 29 were married before 21 years against 35.3 per cent (NFHS-4). NFHS-5 notes that 11 per cent of all girls in the 15-19 age bracket were already mothers or were pregnant at the time of the survey. The corresponding figure for NFHS-4 is 12.2 per cent.

Bihar accounts for 11 per cent of all of India’s early marriages among girls (before the age of 18), and 8 per cent of early marriages among boys (before age 21).

As per a 2016 survey conducted by the Population Council, a non-profit that works on health and development issues, of the girls in the age group of 15 to 19 years, 7 per cent were married before the age 15 in Bihar. In rural areas, 44 per cent girls who were 18-19 were married before they turned 18.

More alarmingly, 11 per cent women in the age group of 15 to 19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the time of survey, according to NFHS-5.

Even as prevalence of child marriage has shown a downward trend in Bihar due to the efforts of the girls themselves and social organisations, the scourge continues to pose a challenge as parents continue to marry their daughters when they are in their teens.

Despite Bihar government’s efforts, the menace of child marriage hasn’t been completely eradicated.

Only a few weeks back, police foiled an attempt by parents of a minor boy to marry him with a minor girl in Muzaffarpur district. Police swung into action when the mother of the boy informed Childline—a helpline for children—about it. Childline, in turn, had passed the information to a senior police officer and district child protection unit.

Initiatives to check child marriage

Priti Mahara, director of Policy, Research and Advocacy at CRY, says that even though the legal age of marriage for girls has been raised to 21 but many girls are still being forced to marry even before 18. “Child marriage must be treated as criminal offence because it is a serious social evil,” she adds.

“There is an intergenerational impact of child marriage on the health of the adolescent mother and her child. Early marriages push girls out of the education system, especially when it comes to those from vulnerable sections. They also increase the risk of early pregnancy,” Mahara notes.

On the question of how child marriages can be reduced, Mahara says the extension of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, to include pre-school as well as secondary and higher secondary levels can play a huge role in ensuring girls complete their education. According to Mahara, until the ambit of the Right to Education Act is extended to higher secondary levels and there is a need to increase investments to make secondary education available under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.

The Women Development Corporation (WDC) launched a campaign called Udaan in December 2021 to create awareness against child marriage. In addition, girls are also being sensitised about their food intake, adolescent health issues, exploitation for dowry. They are also being provided vocational training.

WDC managing director Harjat Kaur says Udaan will cover 22 districts of the state to dissuade parents from marrying off their children at an early age. She says efforts are being made to enrol girls in schools and also bring down instances of minor girls escaping with their boyfriends. She said these efforts will significantly reduce the number of child marriages in the state.

Girls in the age group of 14 to 19 will be covered under the campaign and they will also undergo training under various skill development courses.

Several other organisations too have been actively working in Bihar against child marriages.

Prashanti Tiwari, a collective of more than 270 charities in Bihar focused on gender rights, says parents of minor girls studying in Class 9 at Narayanpur village in Supaul district had discontinued their studies in 2019 after a 50-year-old private coaching teacher of the same village married his 15-year-old student.

Initially, the police were reluctant to take action against the teacher who enjoyed considerable ‘influence’ in the village. After Tiwari persisted with her efforts to bring the man to book, an FIR was registered against him. Following action against the teacher, 60 child marriages in the village were cancelled.

ActionAid Association’s (AAA) Sharad Kumari says that her organisation in partnership with the state government and other NGOs is trying to check the menace of child marriages by involving religious teachers and community leaders too.

The most important fight, however, is being fought by the girls themselves.