TEARFUL BRIDES

Moneyed and ageing Arab Sheiks deserting brides soon after their ‘contract marriages’ to young girls, including minors, from poor families in the Old City is passé. Nowadays, students of African nations have started hunting for such nubile girls. And, the younger the girl, the better the bargaining power for her parents who want nothing but moolah from the prospective groom.

The child marriage that was prevented in the city at Moula Ali on Wednesday reflects a pattern that encourages the pernicious ‘catch them young’ practice, though the grooms vary in terms of social status, age and geographical location.

Most of these matches involving young girls or minors are finalized as ‘contract marriages’

The contract marriages are secretive, though they are performed ritualistically with all paraphernalia. The ‘marital bliss’ in all such cases lasts for periods ranging from a few days to a month or until such time as the visa of the visitor allows. Most of these contract marriages go unreported.

The fight against child marriages has been hobbled by contradictions in laws intended to prevent child marriages. It is disgusting to realise that typically three go-betweens benefit from every contract marriage, apart from the girl’s parents and the Qazi performing the marriage; while the minor concerned is subject to horrific abuse by sexual perverts.

“The money gets divided into five shares, which are intended for the parents of the bride’; the Qazi who solemnises the marriage; the local agent (mostly women); local leader, and the agent who gets the foreign groom,” says Jameela Nishat, director of Shaheen.

Shaheen is a two-decade-old city-based NGO working for the welfare of women and prevention of child marriage.

“The money involved in each contract marriage generally ranges from Rs. 55,000 to Rs 80,000. If the girl is fair, delicate and good looking, the price may go up to Rs. 1.5 lakh,” says Shaheen Sultana, member of Shaheen. Sultana, who also assists the police in cracking contract marriages and human trafficking rackets, adds, “The Arab Sheikhs, who are generally 60-75 years old, prefer very young girls aged between 12-16 years, but not above 18 years.”

The rich grooms, who pay for these marriages, do not intend to spend their life with the bride, but only want to exploit them sexually during their stay. The groom books a lodge in the city or sometimes the agent arranges a house for him in certain parts of the Old City, including Barkas.

Recalling instances of horrific sexual harassment of minor brides over the years, Sultana, member of Shaheen, says, “The girls are cruelly exploited by the grooms, who even take potent drugs and abuse them sexually throughout the night, sometimes till the morning. This continues all through their stay here. The inhuman acts will be evident by damage caused to the body of the bride girls.”

Dr. SRRY Srinivas of the Institute of Mental Health, Erragadda, suggests that such abuse can have a lifelong impact on the victims who are not mature sexually and psychologically. “Depending on the severity of cases, the victim might go through post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reliving the horrific experiences. They might also go into severe depression. The injuries remind them of the incident.”

The reasons why parents do not have qualms about marrying off their young daughters to old aged Sheikhs can be attributed to poor financial background of the family and also the dowry system involved in the marriages.

“For a man who does a petty job and works on daily wages, it is tough even to feed his children. The family is usually big with at least four to five children. In such condition, paying dowry and getting them married almost becomes impossible. In these circumstances, they easily get trapped by the words of selfish people around them, who strike a deal for the marriage. They usually convince the parents, saying that even if the bride groom is a little old, since he is rich, their daughter would revel in luxury,” says Jameela Nishat. Moreover, the parents are kept under dark about the contract marriage. While obtaining signatures in the Nikhanama (marriage document), they also secretly obtain signatures in the Khulanama (divorce document) as well.

These contract marriages are common in the slums of the Old City including- Baba Nagar, Nasheman Nagar, Barkas, Shahi Nagar, Tadbund, Talabkatta, Vattapalli and Hasan Nagar of Ranga Reddy District. Most of these marriages go unreported.

In June 2013, over 250 women representing Old City self help groups approached the AP State Women’s Commission complaining about qazis who have been solemnising contract marriage of minors.

“In response to the complaint, we have written a letter to the Wakf Board about the qazis who are solemnising contract marriages. Certain Muslim laws allow the marriage of a girl aged below 18 years, though physically and mentally the girl will not be mature enough to bear pregnancy,” said Tripurana Venkataratnam, Chairperson, AP State Women’s Commission, while speaking to Hyderabad Hans.

The fight against child marriages are weakened by contradiction in laws related to child welfare.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) of 2006 states that a “child” or minor under this law is someone below 18 years of age, in the case of girls, and 21 years, in the case of boys. Under the Act, a male adult above 18 years of age, who marries a child, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment extending to two years or with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or both.

“Whoever performs, conducts, directs or abets a child marriage, including parents or an organisation, will also face similar punishment,” it says.

The Qazi Act of 1880 virtually allows qazis to perform weddings involving a child under law as it does not specify any age limit for marriage. Observers, therefore, say that a clause specifying the minimum marriageable age of girls as 18 years also has to be brought into the Qazi Act.

Even the Sharia does not expressly forbid child marriages, since it says that a girl after attaining puberty is ready for marriage, without specifying the age limit again.The story is being supported by ASMITA as part of its media project.