Rajasthan woman seeks annulment of her child marriage

Jaipur, Aug 4 (IANS) A 20-year-old woman in Rajasthan's Barmer district has requested the authorities to annul her marriage which was solemnised when she was only two years old, police said Saturday.

She also sought protection from the members of a village community council who, she says, are threatening her with serious consequences if she did not accept her childhood marriage, they added.

According to police, the woman, Sonia Kumari is a resident of Ratanpura village near Balotara town in Barmer, some 500 km from Jaipur.

"She filed an application before the district superintendent of police Saturday, requesting security from a village community council or panchayat. She says that they were threatening to expel her from the locality, which means she and her family members would not be able to mingle with other villagers. It also warned of slapping huge cash fines on her and her family members if she did not accept the marriage," a senior police officer told IANS.

The officer said that Sonia is doing graduation from a college in Bikaner along with her brother. She was married to Heeraram from the same village when she was only two years old.

"Sania was staying with her family members in keeping with the tradition as her 'gauna' - move from the paternal house to the in-laws' - had not been performed. Her so-called in-laws started pressuring the girl to start living with them recently which she refused," said the officer.

He added that the in-laws then approached the village panchayat members who started threatening the woman.