Child Brides
Although it is technically illegal, each year millions of girls are married off under the age of eighteen in India. Often times these girls are only four or five years old. Parents hold these ceremonies in secret late at night in order to not be caught breaking the law. The parents of the bride and groom lie about the children’s age, insisting they are of legal marriage age when it is quite obvious that these children are under age.
The reason girls are being married off so young is because it is the family of the bride’s responsibility to pay a dowry to the groom’s family. The longer families wait to marry off their daughter, the more they have to pay the groom’s family. Also, marrying the daughter off at a young age means one less mouth to feed. This young marriage puts a toll on the females both physically and mentally. These girls are not ready to be brides and action needs to be taken to enforce the laws put in place to prevent these marriages.
The reason girls are being married off so young is because it is the family of the bride’s responsibility to pay a dowry to the groom’s family. The longer families wait to marry off their daughter, the more they have to pay the groom’s family. Also, marrying the daughter off at a young age means one less mouth to feed. This young marriage puts a toll on the females both physically and mentally. These girls are not ready to be brides and action needs to be taken to enforce the laws put in place to prevent these marriages.
Girls as young as four or five years old are being marries off so families can have one less mouth to feed.
These little girls never get to be just little girls. They have the responsibilities of marriaga thrust upon them far too early in life.