Reacting to a widely circulated video showing the forced marriage of a woman in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal Tuesday demanded that chief minister Ashok Gehlot take cognisance of that matter. Maliwal took to Twitter to share the video of the incident, said to have happened last week.
Sharing details of the incident, the Delhi women’s panel chief said in a tweet in Hindi, “This video is being told by the media of Jaisalmer. According to reports, a girl was kidnapped in public and forced to marry her by lighting a fire in a barren desert. This is a very shocking and frightening incident. @AshokGehlot51 investigate the matter and take action.”
The six-second blurred video clip showed a woman, being held in a man’s arms as he forcibly conducts what appeared similar to a wedding ritual by taking rounds around a fire, resembling the Hindu tradition of 'pheras.' Throughout the video, the woman is heard crying as the supposed wedding takes place amid the presence of a few more people including, another woman and a man, recording the video.
Also Read: 96% child marriage cases pending trial across India by 2021: Rights body
Shortly after Maliwal shared the video, the Jaisalmer police responded, confirming that the incident happened on Thursday and the prime accused seen in the video has been arrested. “In relation to the incident on 01 June 23, a case has been registered in Police Station Mohangarh, Jaisalmer and the main accused seen in the video has been arrested. Teams are being constituted to arrest the others,” the police said.
{{/usCountry}}Shortly after Maliwal shared the video, the Jaisalmer police responded, confirming that the incident happened on Thursday and the prime accused seen in the video has been arrested. “In relation to the incident on 01 June 23, a case has been registered in Police Station Mohangarh, Jaisalmer and the main accused seen in the video has been arrested. Teams are being constituted to arrest the others,” the police said.
{{/usCountry}}As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on forced marriages from 2021, there were more than 28,000 incidents of such cases reported in India. However, experts have stressed that the numbers could be much higher since a lot of cases are under-reported, especially in cases of child marriages. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the conviction rate in child marriage cases is “extremely poor” at just 10%. At least 96% of such cases were pending trial across the country by the end of 2021.