Pun of Karki VDC-5 and Gharti of Archhani VDC-3 fell in love while they were studying in the same school and ended up marrying.
Lalita was just 16 years old when she tied the knot with her lover. "After I fell in love with Amar, we rushed things a bit and got married,” recalled Pun, who repents now.
According to her, she had never imagined that she would have to endure terrible consequences resulting from that decision.
Her husband has started abusing her and children physically after she became mother of two children. He did not even care about the children, she alleged. That's why she eventually made up her mind to break up the relationship.
"If he does not care about me and our children, why should I be in the relationship?”
“I suffered because of early marriage. I wish I could think about it earlier,” she told Republica.
Around six months ago, Lalita lodged a divorce case against her husband at the district court of Jajarkot. Since then, she has been living at her maternal home with her children.
With no job, she is facing a hard time sustaining herself and her children. No wonder, she has sought half-share from her husband's property and also expenses for the children's care. She has also continued her studies and is currently enrolled at twelfth grade in Tribhuvan Higher Secondary School, Khalanga.
Another local woman, Januka BK of Khalanga-5 faces similar plight. She had married a man just after she appeared in the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations. Nine years later, her husband deserted her after she gave birth to four daughters. After he took a second wife, she has been living with four daughters at her parent's home.
“How could I look after our four daughters all alone?” said she, her eyes welling up. “Who will educate my daughters?”
Lalita and Janaki are just representative cases. Five couples have already filed for divorce at the court this year alone, according to Women and Children Development Office (WCDO) of Jajarkot. In all of the cases, the women had married at a young age.
Child marriage is rampant in the district, according to concerned stakeholders. Such cases are yet to be reported to the authorities.
Child Rights Officer at District Child Welfare Board (DCWB) of Jajarkot, Dambar Rokaya, told Republica that child marriage rate in the district is very high. Most early marriages result from love affairs between teenagers attending school, he informed.
As per the report on children's situation in Jajarkot, prepared by the DCWB, out of 67,332 marriages in the district, 49,862 involved children, among them 62.87 percent girls and 37.13 percent boys.
These statistics clearly show that girls in the district tend to marry earlier than boys.
Proper guidance and care from parents, lack of proper counseling, traditional practices have led to the increasing prevalence of child marriage in the district, according to local stakeholders.
Meanwhile, Melina Karki, president of District Child Club Network, said that boys are also under pressure to marry early as then the groom's family would have a member to carry out household chores. But the parents of the girls are equally eager to get their daughters married off as they still think that they are "others' property," and the sooner they are sent off the better.
Karki added that increasing love affairs among school children and use of mobile phones have further contributed to increase child marriage cases in the district. They need to have proper guidance and counseling, according to the child club network's president.
The authorities' failure to take action against parents and those involved in promoting child marriage has also encouraged to an increasing trend of child marriage cases, according to her.
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