Jodhpur court annuls child marriage that took place 14 yrs ago

A family court in Jodhpur on Thursday annulled the marriage of a girl, who was only three years at the time of the incident.

Now 17, the girl was married off in September 2003 when the community pressured her family to arrange her marriage with a youth.

Judge Rekha Bhargava issued the annulment of marriage after the two parties reached a mutual agreement. "Now, I will concentrate on my studies and move forward," said the teen, a resident of Sunthala region in Jodhpur.

Kriti Bharti, rehabilitation psychologist and founder of NGO Saarthi Trust, helped the girl in moving the Jodhpur court. "I also counselled her in-laws and was successful in getting their consent for anulment," said Kriti, who was instrumental in annulling 34 child marriages and preventing over thousand such marriages so far.