Thaindian News

Jaipur, June 27 (IANS) Another woman in Rajasthan has requested the authorities to annul her marriage which was solemnised when she was a child and sought permission to live with another man of her choice, police said Wednesday.

According to police, the woman, Sajana Kumari, 21, is a resident of Beelwa village near Khetri town in Jhunjhunu district, some 200 km from Jaipur.

“Her husband, Dhara Singh, approached police recently saying that Mahipal Gujjar is keeping Sajana in confinement against her wish. We recovered the girl and also rounded up Gujjar, acting on the complaint,” a police officer told IANS.

However, Sajana told the police that she was willingly living with Gujjar as she did not accept her former marriage which was solemnised when she was just 10 years old.

“I was married to Dhara Singh when I was a child. Child marriage is against the law, so I could not accept it,” Sajana told police in her statement.

She then approached the local sub-divisional magistrate requesting him to allow her to live with Gujjar.

“After hearing arguments from both the sides, the SDM Tuesday held that her child marriage was illegal. She was allowed to stay with Gujjar. So, we released him and dropped all the charges against him leveled by Dhara Singh,” said the officer.

Several girls have refused to accept their child marriages in the state recently.

Twenty-year-old Rekha Kumar June 18 sought protection of the authorities in Jodhpur from members of a village council who, she said, were threatening her with serious consequences if she did not accept her childhood marriage.

Similarly, a 24-year-old woman, Sobha Choudhary, approached the Rajasthan High Court’s Jodhpur bench on June 12, requesting it to annul her marriage that was solemnised when she was nine years old.