When Spandana Association, a grassroots NGO fighting child marriage, learned of a pregnant minor admitted to a private hospital, its volunteers expected yet another familiar case. Instead, what they uncovered shocked even seasoned child rights workers.
The girl was just 15. By then, she had already been married twice and had lost two newborns. Both infants, born severely underweight, did not survive. Two marriages, two pregnancies, two deaths, before she even had the chance to finish primary schooling.
Cycle of Exploitation
Soumya (name changed) was first married off at 12. Within months, she was pregnant. Her first child, born at a government health centre in Hukkeri taluk, died shortly after birth. When that marriage collapsed, her family married her off again, this time to a 28-year-old man. To cover up her age, he altered her Aadhaar card, changing her birth year from 2010 to 2005, and used the forged identity to obtain a “Thayi Card,” a maternal health scheme meant for vulnerable mothers. What was meant to safeguard lives was instead misused to legitimise a crime.
By 15, Soumya had once again endured a pregnancy and another child’s death.
System Failures, NGO Intervention
Spandana Association, part of the Just Rights for Children network, stepped in. Retrieving her original school and Aadhaar records, they confirmed her actual birth date as January 1, 2010, five years younger than what the tampered documents claimed. Complaints were filed against both husbands and families. Cases were registered under IPC 1860, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and the POCSO Act, 2012. Letters were also sent to state and national child rights commissions.
“This is not marriage, it is child rape,” said Ravi Kant, National Convenor of Just Rights for Children. “Only Protection, Prevention, and Prosecution can break this cycle. Laws exist, but without enforcement, children will continue to be sold as brides.”
Beyond a Social Issue
Soumya’s case underlines that child marriage is not merely a “social problem” but systemic violence against children, enabled by silence from families, neighbours, and institutions. Schools failed to track her, authorities ignored forged papers, and communities chose to look away.
What Lies Ahead
At 15, Soumya carries scars of two premature pregnancies and the trauma of betrayal by adults around her. Her future now depends on whether authorities act to rehabilitate her or let her fall back into neglect.
Her story forces a larger question: how many more children like her remain hidden in statistics and villages across India? For now, Spandana’s swift action has ensured her case will not vanish into silence, but her life remains a painful reminder of a childhood erased too soon.
