JABALPUR: SP Jhabua, Surendra Pal Singh, had good reasons to feel surprised when a newly married couple walked into his office on Tuesday morning. While the girl was 19, the groom was a school lad, barely 12 years of age. The duo, it was mostly the wife who did the talking, complained of harassment by parents who wanted them to split. And all this while the kid groom curiously surveyed the surroundings and nodded his head vigorously, the officer said.
Singh is now in a bind. Explaining the legal age-limit to the lovelorn in the tribal belt is a useless exercise, he told TOI. So he resorted to the next option - calling parents for counselling.
Balika Vadhu it seems has competition in Balak Var. But secretary, Madhya Pradesh Mahila Manch, Asha Mishra, claims the phenomenon in the state is as old as Adam. Mishra specifically mentions tribal customs in Jhabua, Alirajpur and Nimar belts. Boys and girls among MP tribes enjoy freedom and elope before marriage with a chosen partner. And this is an accepted tradition, which incidentally has the sanction of the state government. Before elopement, they certainly don't check each other's birth certificates, she said so why this hullaballoo?
Sparks are flying because parents of the groom are set to play proverbial spoilsport, says Jabalpur SP Harinarain Chari Mishra. Conceding there has been a spurt in cases where brides are eloping with younger grooms, he claimed in almost all cases, girls face stiff resistance from in-laws. On Tuesday, a newly married couple - 25-year-old girl and 18-year-old boy - marched into Ranjhi police station and alleged harassment by boys' family. "The father when summoned suggested a compromise formula. Let the two stay separate till the husband turns 21. But neither agreed to it and walked off, Mishra told TOI.
It's not love alone. Other worldly considerations like money and comfort also play a part in such alliances. For instance, in Rewa, Sarita Pal, a thrice married woman who took feras last year with a 17-year-old boy, Abhishek Kumarto, half her age, alleged before the Parivar Paramashra Kendra that her in-laws had abducted the "highly gullible" hubby and poisoned his ears. After staying apart for three months, the couple was back together. The reason? The father wanted the son to earn his living like a man. The boy, who had become a stay-at-home-hubby, got used to being treated like a king.
SP Jabalpur recounts another such incident where a minor boy was taken to Delhi by a 23-year-old bride. "On a complaint of abduction, police brought him back to Jabalpur. When confronting the father the boy turned mutinous. His wife had got him admitted to an English medium school in Delhi and he no longer wanted to attend a pathashala in his home town."
Admitting materialistic allurements in stray cases, Asha Mishra would like to give most couples a benefit of doubt. These committed pairs can be found anywhere in the state from Dindori to Jhabua . What is needed is a different yardstick to judge these alliances and treat them with sympathy, she said.
Original NEWS Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Here-brides-have-fetish-for-kid-grooms/articleshow/29238755.cms?intenttarget=no#.UuJ5Q4HFtbk.blogger
Singh is now in a bind. Explaining the legal age-limit to the lovelorn in the tribal belt is a useless exercise, he told TOI. So he resorted to the next option - calling parents for counselling.
Balika Vadhu it seems has competition in Balak Var. But secretary, Madhya Pradesh Mahila Manch, Asha Mishra, claims the phenomenon in the state is as old as Adam. Mishra specifically mentions tribal customs in Jhabua, Alirajpur and Nimar belts. Boys and girls among MP tribes enjoy freedom and elope before marriage with a chosen partner. And this is an accepted tradition, which incidentally has the sanction of the state government. Before elopement, they certainly don't check each other's birth certificates, she said so why this hullaballoo?
Sparks are flying because parents of the groom are set to play proverbial spoilsport, says Jabalpur SP Harinarain Chari Mishra. Conceding there has been a spurt in cases where brides are eloping with younger grooms, he claimed in almost all cases, girls face stiff resistance from in-laws. On Tuesday, a newly married couple - 25-year-old girl and 18-year-old boy - marched into Ranjhi police station and alleged harassment by boys' family. "The father when summoned suggested a compromise formula. Let the two stay separate till the husband turns 21. But neither agreed to it and walked off, Mishra told TOI.
It's not love alone. Other worldly considerations like money and comfort also play a part in such alliances. For instance, in Rewa, Sarita Pal, a thrice married woman who took feras last year with a 17-year-old boy, Abhishek Kumarto, half her age, alleged before the Parivar Paramashra Kendra that her in-laws had abducted the "highly gullible" hubby and poisoned his ears. After staying apart for three months, the couple was back together. The reason? The father wanted the son to earn his living like a man. The boy, who had become a stay-at-home-hubby, got used to being treated like a king.
SP Jabalpur recounts another such incident where a minor boy was taken to Delhi by a 23-year-old bride. "On a complaint of abduction, police brought him back to Jabalpur. When confronting the father the boy turned mutinous. His wife had got him admitted to an English medium school in Delhi and he no longer wanted to attend a pathashala in his home town."
Admitting materialistic allurements in stray cases, Asha Mishra would like to give most couples a benefit of doubt. These committed pairs can be found anywhere in the state from Dindori to Jhabua . What is needed is a different yardstick to judge these alliances and treat them with sympathy, she said.
Original NEWS Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Here-brides-have-fetish-for-kid-grooms/articleshow/29238755.cms?intenttarget=no#.UuJ5Q4HFtbk.blogger
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