JODHPUR: A family court here freed a child bride from the shackles of nuptial chains after 18 years. She had been married at an age of 2.5 years in 2003 by her parents.
Currently pursuing her B.Ed., when her in-laws started building pressure on her family to send her to them, she saw her dreams of a career as a teacher crumbling and went into depression. Unwilling to continue with her knot solemnized in her infancy, she decided to raise her voice and call it off.
With support of her best friend, she contacted Sarthi Trust, which initiated the process for the annulment of her marriage. Managing trustee Kriti Bharti said the daughter of a labourer in Tiwari tehsil of Jodhpur had been pushed into a wedlock at the age of 2.5 years with a boy from Osian. "When she came to me, she was panicked and was not at all willing to go to her in-laws. Since it was an illegal marriage, we moved the family court and it passed the decree for annulment of the marriage", said Bharti.
While passing the order, presiding officer of the family court Pradeep Kumar Modi said a child marriage destroys both present and future of a child.
