Deccan Chronicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/others/no-full-stops-child-marriages-133
Sep 3, 2012
No full stops to child marriages
Sanjeevi Anandan
It is a big question whether the two child marriages that happened in Krishnagiri district on Thursday would make the girls live happily ever after.
The recent victims of early marriages were V. Sangeetha (15), a class 10 student of Natrampalayam panchayat high school and daughter of K. Veera (35) and V. Lakshmi (30), and Deivayanai (16), daughter of P. Mathappan (35) and Mathammal (32). People of Ethakannur village, to which the child-brides belonged, sought anonymity before confirming news about the marriages.
Although some child marriages are reported and prevented, the sad part is the girls are either deserted or become young widows.
K. Pavithra, 27, of Jonabanda village, near Hosur, Krishnagiri, who became the second wife of a man at age 15, was deserted along with her two children as he went for another minor girl.
Pavithra, who blamed her father Kariappa for her plight, was married to K. Veugopal, 37, of Sonainahalli of Hosakot taluk, Karnataka, who had actually deserted his first wife and three children.
Venugopal showed no fear for his actions and said he and others only follow the custom of his place.
M. Mahadeva Amma (35) of Neralahatti village, near Thally, of Denkannikotta taluk of Krishnagiri; K. Saraswathi (30) of Hallsonai village, near Berigai, and Rupa (22) of Sappanahatti village, Bagalur, Krishnagiri, have similar stories.
Social workers in Denkannikottai taluk say that the number of under-age pregnant mothers getting admitted to rural government hospitals is increasing but is not reported. Also, government schoolteachers do not inform the district administration about dropouts.
Krishnagiri collector C.N. Mageswaran denied to DC the charges of the social workers and assured that child marriages were fewer now. He sought the villagers’ help to check the menace and suggested using the CM’s schemes for the welfare of girls.