Child Marriages Unseen in India: A Hidden Crisis
In the district of Shravasti, nestled along the impoverished border of Nepal, young brides find themselves alone as their husbands seek work in other parts of the country. This is a stark reality that Saumya Khandelwal, a 27-year-old Reuters photographer based in India, has been documenting since 2015.
Born in Lucknow but growing up in a world different from Shravasti, Khandelwal's work has been shedding light on the prevalence of child marriage in India, a practice that is illegal yet persists due to poverty, a lack of education, and the volatility of life.
Khandelwal's recent photo report on young wives in Shravasti was supported by Plan International, an organisation she hopes to continue working with. In the future, she plans to collaborate with Save the Children to further document the situation of underchallenged wives in India.
One of the young brides Khandelwal has photographed is Muskaan, a girl from Shravasti who was married at 14 and had her education immediately halted. After marriage, Muskaan was left alone as her husband sought work elsewhere, leaving her with her in-laws.
The family of the young bride considered their daughter as a liability due to the expenses and dowry associated with her. Today, both women under 18 and men under 21 cannot legally get married in India, with laws passed in 1929 and updated in 2006. Despite this, India has more underage brides than any other country in the world.
Parents or older spouses can be punished with up to two years in prison for coordinating or allowing child marriages. Yet, the practice continues, with girls as young as eight years old being married off by their families in the district of Shravasti.
Khandelwal's photographs have also revealed signs of child marriage in the metropolis of New Delhi. If Khandelwal was born in Shravasti, she could have been one of the young brides she photographs.
In a small village in Shravasti, a mother of a young bride who was also married as a child stated that she had few other options due to poverty. This poignant statement underscores the need for continued efforts to eradicate child marriage and provide education and opportunities for girls in India.
Saumya Khandelwal's powerful photographs are a testament to the lives of young brides in India and serve as a call to action for those who seek to end this harmful practice. Her work is available on her website and Instagram.
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