CHANDIGARH: The Central government’s decision to raise the marriageable age of girls from 18 to 21 years has triggered a rush among economically weaker sections in the Mewat region of Haryana, to get their daughters married off.
“In two village-level meetings on December 17 and 18, some 35 girls, mostly under-graduates, told us that their parents were looking for grooms,” said Sunil Jaglan of Lado Panchayat. “These girls are from EWS families from Mewat, Rohtak, Jind, Hisar and other parts of Haryana. We came to know about some cases from western UP also.” Jaglan said some well-to-do conservative families too are trying to marry off their daughters.
A Muslim girl from Mewatsaid her wedding had been fixed suddenly for this week even though she is studying in Delhi. An imam from Nuh said he had received many requests from both bride and groom sides for solemnising marriages of girls aged between 18 and 20 years and boys between 21 to 25 years.
There has been a rise in court weddings. Around 500 marriages took place in Mewat region alone this weekend. A few girls in the age group of 18-20 years said since many of their friends were getting married, their family members were pressuring them, too, to get married.
Four-fold increase
The number of inter-caste couples seeking court marriage in Gurugram went up four times over the weekend. As many as 20 such marriages took place against an average of five.