Varanasi: A child marriage involving a 12-year-old girl from the Musahar community and a 17-year-old boy was averted at the last minute in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district on Wednesday evening after timely intervention by authorities and child protection workers. The girl later told the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that she had repeatedly pleaded with her family not to marry her off, saying she wanted to study, but her pleas were ignored. She also revealed that she had been made to work at a brick kiln.The case came to light after Aastha Mahila Evam Bal Vikas Sanstha, a partner organisation of Just Rights for Children (JRC), received information through a labourer working with an associate of the organisation. The labourer said he needed to leave early to attend a relative’s daughter’s wedding. When asked about the girl’s age, he said she was very young, did not want to get married, and that her family was rushing the wedding.Acting on the information, the organisation’s team reached the wedding venue in the Chandwak area, where the family was waiting for the baraat. The team alerted Childline, the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer and the police. A joint team reached the spot while the wedding rituals were underway and stopped the ceremony.Officials counselled the girl’s parents and informed them about the legal provisions against child marriage, as well as the impact of early marriage on a child’s education, health and future. The girl’s father later signed an affidavit pledging that he would not marry off his daughter before she attained the legal age for marriage.The girl’s parents work as labourers at a brick kiln. The scale of the wedding preparations, despite the family’s financial condition, has raised concerns about possible third-party involvement or a financial arrangement, though this has not been established.“So many people were present at the wedding, yet no one stopped to think that the girl was at an age when she should be in school and not getting married. Child marriage is not only a private family matter; it robs a child of her childhood, education and fundamental rights. It will end only when people choose to speak up instead of remaining silent when they see a child being married off,” said Santosh Kumar Pandey, director of Aastha Mahila Evam Bal Vikas Sanstha.Pandey said the organisation would ensure that the girl was enrolled in school and supported in continuing her education.
