Chained for life

Vijayarajan was arrested five days ago under the Child Marriage Restraint Act, by which this marriage is null and void, but Amudhamani8217;s story is far from over. Now, her parents want her to stay married.

8216;8216;If a taali is tied around a girl8217;s neck once, it cannot be removed till her death or her husband dies. That is the social custom of our Kambalathu Naicker community and I cannot violate it,8217;8217; says Amudhamani8217;s father, M. Ayyavu, sitting in his hut at Veerabomminaickanur, near Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa8217;s Andipatti constituency. Even Amudhamani8217;s mother, Jayamani, who is the second wife of Ayyavu, asks, 8216;8216;How can the taali be removed?8217;8217;

To the community leaders, it did not matter why Vijayarajan, father of three, married Amudhamani8212;who is a year younger to his eldest son8212;at the nearby Veerabommamal temple.

For them, child marriage is not illegal. So, when Vijayarajan returned with his child bride 20 days later, the community leaders simply decreed that Amudhamani should live with him. 8216;8216;I was upset. But what could I do? I had to accept the community leaders8217; orders,8217;8217; says Ayyavu.

Luckily for Amudhamani, a few local NGOs and police stepped in to shift the child bride to Anbu Illam, a home for orphan children.

Amudhamani8217;s taali has also turned the district administration8217;s attention towards the obscurantist practice among this community. 8216;8216;Child marriage is not uncommon among the Kambalathu Naickers. However, this is the first case we have booked,8217;8217; say the local Allinagaram police Inspector, P. Thangaraj.

According to him, the probe indicates the marriage had the approval of the child8217;s mother, Jayamani, who felt her husband was neglecting her two children.

Ayyavu had married Jayamani because his first wife, Malarmani, had no children. However, after his second marriage, the first wife too conceived twice, leading to conflict.

8216;8216;Changing the attitude of the community, which approves of child marriages, is not an easy task,8217;8217; admits District Collector, Sunil Paliwal.

8216;8216;We are now trying to persuade the parents to get Amudhamani8217;s taali removed,8217;8217; says Paliwal.

However, the child8217;s father, Ayyavu counters, 8216;8216;Let her grow up and decide if she wants to live with her uncle or marry someone else.8217;8217;