Does this still happen in India?

Question

I am soo terrified of India, please don't get me wrong.
The story.
My nani (mums mum) got engaged at 6, married at 12. She loves telling everyone, but I don’t see the fun side of it. Sorry. How can this type of marriage be real? At twelve, can you truly understand the meaning of walking 7 times around the fire? At this same age, my nani couldn’t cook (which is apparently the end of the world for some) and her mother-in-law wasn’t too happy. Unoccupied in the kitchen as always, she was cooking and suddenly caught fire, suffered six degree burns and woke up from a coma two years later. The scars are still there. Why can’t people let children be children? So you see this is why I am so petrified of the country. I am 22 years old and I am so glad this is not happening to me.

Does this still happen in India?

I understand Sam that this is the 21st century. A lot has changed but this still persists. You can't deny that. Just a few years ago we hear 50,000 baby girls going missing? Many women are reported to have commited suicide. How many ACTUALLY commited suicide. It still happens in really poor areas.

I hope I have not offended anyone with this question. I don't mean India is bad, but it can be better.

** I meant unaccompanied not unoccupied.

Answer 1

Valid question but do a little research before asking this type of questions.
we are living in 21st century where people know a lot more than in the early part of 20th century.
I am sure barring some incident where family traditions are still considered on top you won't hear them much. Plus Government Of India has a law to prevent Child marriages.

Good Luck

Sam

Answer 2

Yes, these type of things are still happening in India. It is a FACT!

But, the number of such activities have reduced to almost zero in metro cities, urban areas where majority of the people are educated and working class.

But, in rural area and remote villages it still exists.

Very recently I saw a news article in a English news channel about a small town in Andra Pradesh where a marriage took place between a boy aged 7 and a girl aged 3. The mother told to the reporter that once the girl attains the age of 5 or 6, she will go to her in-laws house.

There are many reasons for these types of acts like illiteracy, poverty and many, many more.

I don't know who is going to change this.... and even if you take a step to change this then you might have strong opposition from politicians, big old-aged land lords from that local area, superstitious people etc;

Answer 3

My heartfelt condolences for the mental trauma lingering in your genes as a fallout of what happened to your nani ages ago. Though tragic the incident is rare in India and seems very personal to you. Even so, a judgment regarding a whole country based on a family experience is juvenile and ill conceived. If you bother to enquire about the marriagable age in India and do some research you will discover to your relief and amazement that child marriage is prohibited by the Indian Penal Code and punishable to the fullest extent by law. As to catching fire and suffering sixth degree burns it is unlikely in light of the microwaves, blenders and zillions of other electronic gizmos being sold in India today that such misfortune will ever visit you. Even the lowest economic classes have safe methods of cooking and are extremely unlikely to catch fire in the course of their gastronomic endeavors.

Your query reminds me of an ill-informed youth who was afraid to go to a developed western nation because he felt all girls in that country paraded naked, slept with any man they met, drank alcohol excessively, were always high on drugs, were likely to be raped or killed by a serial killer or molested as a child were gold diggers looking for a rich patsy, were high school dropouts with low IQ ... you get the picture. So you see impresions are just that and it is directly proportional to the ignorance of the victim of such impressions.

I am sure if you garner enough courage and manage a trip to India you will encounter a different country and the trauma from your past will be erased. Who knows you might even find a mate who will not make you cook and will take his marriage vows while bungee jumping from a WW II era biplane instead of making you crawl around the fire seven times in spite of your aversion to fire.

Answer 4

To answer your question in one short simple sentence: yes, such things still happen in India. However, I will elaborate a little.
These things definitely no longer happen on the scale that they took place when your nani was married. Lack of proper education and awareness are the main reasons for such things taking place. As education spreads gradually to reach the grassroots level of Indian population and people become aware, these practises decrease automatically as they have already done. Most of the people shun them and even those who go for it are aware that it is illegal. They do it out of age old social beliefs. Let me concede that such social evils not only exist but flourish in pockets of illiteracy within the lower strata of Indian society and in far flung rural areas. The majority of the present 22 years olds find it as astonishing and reprehensible as you do. And since they don't have to go through such sordid experiences, they don't shudder.
About other things like female suicides or women gone missing, it is unfortunate but true that traditional Indian society doesn't accord the same status to its women as it does to its men. Inequality of sexes is rampant even amongst our educated classes and girls are definitely not the most favoured offspring to most Indians. I suppose you live in some Western nation where women get a fairer deal than they do in India. But universally very few countries have actually realised true equality of the sexes in every sphere of life. Crime against women not only exist but are quite rampant in a lot of Western nations. There they take on an entirely different hue and prove that the notion of equality of sexes has not percolated down to every human mind.

Answer 5

well yes it still is happen and we can't Denis it, i know we are in 21st century and there so many villages following the same old rules, even my mom got married when she was only 12, and I'm 21 so you see it still happen and not just India it all over the world alot of parents from poor family's sell their daughters to make money i feel sick, if they can't raise someone don't bother to give birth any more

Answer 6

It is very difficult (if not impossible) to change the culture, customs, traditions, rituals, etc. continuing for centuries. Child (even infant) marriages are continuing in India, yet Suttee (burning widow alive on pyre of dead husband) is rare. Girls' parents have to offer huge dowry at the marriage and to contunue thereafter. Wives are sometimes brutally murdered or burnt alive on failure, for remarriage with more wealthy girl. Wives are usually subjected to cruelty, mental & physical harassment for dowry.
Government laws proved useless since many Government Ministers and Members of Legislative Assemblies & Parliament themselves practice it. Usually the laws are for the poor & illiterate who cannot bribe.
Evils cannot be eradicated unless people fairly confess the truths of their prevailing in Society.

Answer 7

No thats not true.Yes i agree suicides& all happened but it is only one side.I m of 16 & not married yet & my parents never thought of it.Suicides among women is not common only in India but in countries like Pak,Bangladesh & in even a large number of european & develped countries it is prevailing so India alone can not be blames &&& I can assure u such bad practices r now on verge of their extinction from Indian society!!

Answer 8

This is still happening throughout the world. Children have be treated like servants and girls are treated worse. Remember that in some countries people have children so they will have someone to work their farms and support and care for them in their old age. Girls are often sold into servitude to help support the family and they usually end up in the sex trade. Only in wealthy nations are children pampered and indulged.

Answer 9

yes these things were more common in india.
but now a days due to spread of technology and education and public awareness programmes, this types of problems have been controled to a great extent.
in 1947, when our country became free or when our country gained its independence or freedom, till then now in 2007 we have covered a long distannce in these 59 years and yet we have to travel a lllooooooooootttttttttt to make each and every indian feel the power of freedom

Answer 10

When it comes to having sex at teenages or developing a relationship at young age, people would jump of with excitement and say yes, but when it comes to commitments at young age, everybody looks down to it. Hypocrites still exist and exist in large numbers.

No I am not in favour of child marraiges, but just trying to present you the picture. But let me present you a few sttistical facts:

SEX RATIO:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

INFANT MORTALITY RATE
total: 54.63 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 55.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 54.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

AGE STRUCTURE:
0-14 years: 30.8% (male 173,478,760/female 163,852,827)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 363,876,219/female 340,181,764)
65 years and over: 4.9% (male 27,258,020/female 26,704,405) (2006 est.)

LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH:
total population: 64.71 years
male: 63.9 years
female: 65.57 years (2006 est.)

If you take a notice of the figures thoroughly, you will notice that infant mortality rates of a male child are higher than females.

Second point to note is that there's a rise in the male:female ratio by 0.01 male per female within the age group of 15 to 64 years (the most active age group), that makes it to 10 males per 1000 females. Look AGE STRUCTURE.

Let us assume that theres no rise in the male count but a drop in the female count due to their deaths (just to explain the statistics of so called women suicides). The drop in the female cound would be 0.9 percent. Out of this 0.9 percent some die natural death, some accidental, some commit suicide and some are murdered. Assuming that all of them are murdered, is 0.9 percet very high. How much do you think it would be compared to no. of male deaths in that age group.

Thirdly, you are talking about meaning of walking around fire at 12, people don't know the meaing even at the age of 30.

Fourth point, you are talking about your Nani, a generation gap of around 60 odd years. Those events took place somewhere around the time of independence. This is year 2007. You need present your views about the picture today which is quite different. It may be pracitsed in some remote places in the country, but it's considered illegel. And you would always find a few unethical practices in every inhabited corner of the globe.

Look at the brighter picture, how drastically things have improved and rest assured that they will improve. Progress and development cannot happen in a snap of fingers...

:-)