Minor wife gets legal notice on sexual duties

A 35-year-old man who married a minor girl now wants restoration of conjugal rights, and has served a legal notice asking her to return home within a fortnight.

The girl was served a legal notice for not leading a “marital life” with him and discharging “the duties of a housewife”. The harried 16-year-old has sought help from an NGO, which is planning to move the high court against the husband and the lawyer who served the notice.

According to a statement from child rights NGO Balala Hakkula Sangham, the girl from Abdullapurmet here had completed Class X and was pursuing a polytechnic diploma course at a private college. She was preparing for her SSLC examination when she was forced to marry Palsam Srikanth Goud of Injapur village in February last year. At the time of the wedding, her parents gave Rs 1 lakh and 15 tolas of gold to Goud, who was known to her family, as dowry. The girl returned to her parents’ home within a month.

On December 24, she was served a notice for “behaving in a highly objectionable manner with Goud and his family members”. “You have developed the habit of disliking your husband and not giving him due respect. You never bothered to live a marital life with him and failed to perform the duties of a housewife,” the notice read.  She was given 15 days to return to her husband’s house.

Beaten mercilessly

The girl, who does not want to go back, has alleged that the man is having an affair with another woman, and when confronted him, she was beaten mercilessly. “I don’t want to live with him anymore, and want to continue my studies,” she said.”