In a shocking incident captured in a widely circulated video, a woman in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district was forcibly married off, prompting Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal to call for action.
Maliwal took to Twitter, sharing the video and urging Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to address the matter. The video, reportedly from last week, shows the woman being abducted and forced into a marriage ceremony conducted in a barren desert.
मीडिया द्वारा ये वीडियो जैसलमेर का बताया जा रहा है। रिपोर्ट्स के अनुसार एक लड़की को सरेआम किडनैप करके एक बंजर वीराने में आग जलाकर उसके साथ ज़बरदस्ती शादी कर ली। ये बेहद चौंकाने वाली और डराने वाली घटना है। @AshokGehlot51 जी मामले की जाँच कर कार्यवाही करें। pic.twitter.com/mZee4oJgSy
— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) June 6, 2023
The brief six-second video clip reveals a distressing scene where the woman is held by a man while he performs what appears to be a wedding ritual around a fire, reminiscent of the Hindu tradition of ‘pheras.’ Throughout the footage, the woman’s cries are audible as the forced marriage takes place, with a few witnesses present, including another woman and a man recording the incident.
Following Maliwal’s tweet, the Jaisalmer police promptly responded, confirming that the incident occurred on Thursday and announcing the arrest of the main accused seen in the video. They further stated that teams were being formed to apprehend the remaining individuals involved.
Forced marriages in India have been a prevalent issue, with over 28,000 reported cases recorded in 2021 according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
However, experts emphasize that the actual numbers could be much higher due to underreporting, particularly in cases of child marriages.
Compounding the problem, the conviction rate for child marriage cases remains alarmingly low, standing at a mere 10%. By the end of 2021, approximately 96% of such cases were still pending trial nationwide.
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