HYDERABAD: A scramble to solemnise nikahs that might run into legal hurdles if and when the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 becomes a law is keeping mosques in Hyderabad’s Old City busy and buzzing.
The brides at these hurried ceremonies are all between 18 and 20 years of age. Most were supposed to get married sometime in 2022-2023, but fear of the bill being passed has made their families wary of waiting until then.
The bill, supposed to be applicable to all communities, seeks to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.
“I have three daughters – one of them differently-abled. How can I wait another two years to get at least one of them married?” said Samarunnissa, mother of a 19-year-old who was taken to a local mosque on Tuesday for a low-key nikah. “We had planned to have the ceremony in mid-2022 as her father recently went to Sri Lanka in search of a job. We were hoping he would come back with some money for us to arrange the wedding. But when we heard about the bill, we had to rush,” the Babanagar resident said.
TOI spoke to at least half a dozen families living across the Old City that have advanced the wedding dates of their daughters for a similar reason. In almost all cases though, the ‘vidaai’ has been put off for financial reasons.
“It is mandatory that we send our daughter off to her in-laws with some furniture, gold, clothes and cash. But right now, I am struggling to even earn a meal for the family,” said Rehmat Ali, who lost his job as a driver during the 2020 lockdown. “So, while the nikah is done (on December 26), I have sought time (four-five months) for the vidaai,” said the 50-year-old father of five daughters and a son.
The Chandrayangutta resident is banking on KCR’s “Shaadi Mubarak” scheme to fulfil his parental duty. Rolled out by the TRS government in 2014, the scheme extends financial aid of Rs 1 lakh to girls -SC/ST/EBC or minorities -who are at least 18 years old and eligible for marriage.
“Families are getting the nikah done so that they can apply for the scheme immediately and get the money in the next few months. Once that is processed, they can proceed with the vidaais,” said Feroz Khan, a local leader from the area. According to him, more than 40 nikahs are lined up for the next few days.
Among them is Aziz Ahmed’s 18-year-old niece, who was initially supposed to get married next February. “The girl is an orphan and was being looked after by her grandmother until she died a few months ago. Now, if the bill comes into force, who will take care of her for another three years?” Ahmed said. She will now be married on December 31.
Reacting to the bill, Muslim cleric Maulana Jafar Pasha, who is the ameer (chief) of Amarat-e-Millat-e-Islamia Telangana and Andhra, said it is nothing but an “intrusion” of the Muslim personal law. “In Islam, a Muslim girl can get married once she attains puberty. If the bill is passed, imagine the multiple issues – of safety and security of these girls – that it will invite,” he said.