Hindi

Pooja is 20 years old and wants to be a martial arts expert. But she is already fighting the biggest fight of her life: getting her marriage annulled, a marriage that was forced on her when she was a 12 year old child.

Being a child, she had no say in the matter. She was too young to understand what was happening and too scared, to resist in the presence of so many elders. In Pooja’s own words to NDTV: If you allow a child marriage to happen, you become a wife whether you like it or not. 

I have been fighting for the rights of girls like Pooja all my life. Sadly and shockingly, the latest amendment introduced by the Rajasthan government is going to take us many steps backwards. I cannot and will not let this Bill ruin the centuries-old efforts of so many social reformers to make our India free of child-marriages. SIGN NOW!

According to several media reports, the Marriages Amendment Bill 2021 says that all marriages including those of minors must be registered. 

The state government is being defensive by saying it is merely following a Supreme Court directive which says all marriages should be registered; and it's securing the rights of child widows and even children born of child marriages. Surely there are better ways to secure the rights of child widows and children born to children than this amendment which risks encouraging child marriage itself!

Let’s stop this from becoming a law. I have started this petition asking the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot to:

1. Withdraw the current bill as it may inadvertently promote child marriages
2. Announce a complete ban on child/minor marriages in Rajasthan with severe penalties
3. Instate mechanisms and provisions to secure right of child brides, child widows and children borne out of child marriages

I am confident that if my petition on change.org is signed by hundreds and thousands of citizens our collective voice will be heard by the Chief Minister and the Rajasthan government. Let’s speak up so that they remember #KidsAreNotBrides