19-Year-Old Groom Rings Up Authorities, Seeks Their Help To Stop His Forced Marriage

A 19-year-old boy, who was being forced into an arranged marriage in India, rang up government officials and sought their help in stopping the ceremony.

The boy, who had just finished 12th grade, told the officials he wanted to study further, and not get married. The incident happened in the state of Rajasthan, where child marriages are prevalent despite being banned by law. In India, the legal age for a male to get married is 21, reported The Times of India.

Reports said the teen rang up the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights a few days before to inform them he was being forced into a marriage. Commission chairperson Sangeeta Beniwal told The Times of India this was the first time a groom was seeking help to stop his forced marriage. She added the boy's marriage was scheduled for Monday.

"He called to say that his wedding was to take place on Monday. He sent me the photo of the wedding card and his class 10 mark sheet as proof of his age," she told the news outlet, adding the teen informed her he just wanted to study.

The commission immediately intervened, and urged the police and district administration to stop the marriage. Beniwal added it was admirable that even boys are coming forward to seek intervention to avoid such marriages.

In a similar incident, a minor girl had called up Beniwal a few days ago, seeking her help to stop her marriage. "You must be hearing the sound of wedding songs. I will be married off shortly. Please get this stopped, I am being forced to marry," Beniwal recently told reporters. Following Beniwal's intervention, the police reached the girl's house. However, there were allegations they did take action against her parents, rather advised them to conduct the ceremony some other day. News reports later suggested the wedding was called off after the incident came to light.

Though India has strict laws against child marriage, a National Family Health Survey showed 28.2% of boys and 25.4% of girls were being married off before the legal age. The number came down after years of efforts, but there was a sharp increase in such cases during the COVID wave in 2020. As per government records, 785 cases were registered across the country in this regard in 2020.