A Madras High Court bench has approved the marriage of a pregnant minor girl. Sixteen-year-old Kumari fell in love with Kumaresan, who was working in her school bus, and they got married in April 2002.While a division bench had earlier ordered the girl’s custody to her parents, Kumari alleged that immediately on reaching the house, her parents insisted her to remove the thali and the mettis and terminate her pregnancy. On June 25, the girl left her parents’ house and joined her husband. She also sent a telegram to the high court seeking its interference. The Chief Justice treated the telegram as a writ petition and forwarded it to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority for enquiry.‘‘Kumari unequivocally states that she wants to stay only with her husband. Her husband and mother-in-law also support her statement. Even though Kumari has not crossed 18 years of age and is still a minor, she has married Kumaresan and lived with him for some time, and, what is more, she is now 20 weeks pregnant, as certified by the Superintendent of Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children, Chennai. Since her husband Kumaresan is her legal guardian, the girl is entitled to accompany her husband to matrimonial house,’’ the bench observed and permitted Kumari to go with Kumaresan.
