19-year old child bride who was married off at just 11 months finally wins her freedom

With the help of a local charity and child marriage activist, 19-year old child bride who was married off at just 11 months finally wins her freedom.

After 18 years of persecution, Santadevi Meghwal from Rajasthan, in India was finally awarded the annulment by the Family Court, in Jodhpur, at 3pm yesterday.

Santadevi was told two years ago that she was married to Saanval Ram, 28, who was 9-years-old at the time of their wedding.

Santadevi said it was 'appalling' that the marriage was kept from her - and she only found out when her father was told by village elders that she should be sent to live with her in-laws.

Her parents told Santadevi to accept it as her fate, but she couldn't.

She approached a family court on May 13th this year to request the annulment. But as soon as her ‘husband' and his family heard about it they reported her to the local Kangaroo Court or Panchyat, a local self-government organisation.

The Panchayat fined Santadevi and her family Rs 16 lakh (£16,000) and banned them from the community for going against the age-old tradition.

But Santadevi was undeterred by the penalty and was determined to annul her childhood marriage.

With the help of Saarthi Trust, a children’s rights group founded by child marriage campaigner Kriti Bharti, 26, Santadevi went against her community and has finally won her life back.

Santadevi said: ‘I did not believe in this marriage and I was determined to fight for my freedom and break free. I was not going to give up. This is a wonderful day for me.’

Saarthi Trust was responsible for helping the first girl in India Laxmi Sargara to annul her child marriage in 2012 and since then they have helped to annul 27 child marriages. But that number is always growing.

The founder Kriti said: ‘I’m over the moon Santadevi has won her freedom. It’s my dream to eradicate child marriage from India forever, and this is just another girl’s life I have helped to save.'

In India, child marriage still exists in many parts of the country with Rajasthan recording the highest percentage. The United Nations declared Rajasthan the state with the second highest number of child marriages in the world.

A census in 2011 revealed that 1.6 million children were married between 2000 and 2010 in Rajasthan. Even though the marriage of a girl under 18 and a boy under 21 is prohibited and the practice of child marriage has been illegal since 1929, India’s rural patriarchal society means many families in Rajasthan still follow the devastating practice.