Indian girl uses evidence from Facebook to annul her underage marriage

An Indian girl got married against her will at the tender age of 12-years. When she grew up and was forced to go and live with her husband, she escaped and approached the court to annul her marriage. The court asked for evidence regarding the marriage taking place at all and for that she used Facebook as her savior.

Sushila Bishnoi, appealed to a court in Rajasthan state to dissolve her underage marriage. The practice is considered illegal in India but it is still rampant in many parts of rural India.

When her husband was informed about the case, he denied having ever married her, threatening to destroy her case.

Bishnoy, aided by a child rights activist, scanned her husband’s Facebook account and eventually found evidence which proved that the marriage had indeed taken place when she was a minor.

“Many of his friends had posted congratulatory messages on his Facebook page,” said Kriti Bharti, an activist whose Sarathi Trust charity has annulled many child marriages in Rajasthan.

“The court accepted the evidence and declared the marriage invalid,” she said of the ruling Monday.

According to the details provided, the couple got married in a secret wedding ceremony which took place in Barmer district in 2010, when both of them were just 12-years-old.

As per the local tradition, girls who get married at such a young age remain with their parents after the wedding till they turn 18 years of age. As soon as they reach that mark, they are sent to live with their husbands.

Bishnoi said that when she turned 18, her parents started forcing her to go and live with her husband.

“I wanted to study but my family and my in-laws wanted me to live with a drunkard,” Bishnoi told AFP.

“It was about life and death, and I chose to live.”

She ran away from home to a shelter where she met Bharti, who helped her begin legal proceedings to dissolve the union.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=55509

Posted by fatimaarshad on Oct 13 2017. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.