By Janaki Sankaran | Therapist
Sathi (name changed) is a 17 year old girl who has been in Tejus Home for the last month. She belongs to a tribal community and the family shifted from their native state of Andhra Pradesh to Kerala many years ago. The family – especially the children – speaks fluent Malayalam.
Sathi has a 20 year old sister who is married and has a child; 3 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers. Her mother got married at the age of 14 and the parents are both employed as rock breakers for construction sites.
As the parents needed to be away from home for work, all the children were placed in child care institutions for their care and education, with the parents visiting them when they could. Sathi was taken home about three years ago, to help care for her elder sister who was pregnant. Her schooling came to an end at this time – and she had completed grade 9.
While at home, Sathi fell in love with her first cousin – a young man of 23 who works as a driver. Although their respective families had no objections to their wanting to marry, the young couple eloped from home in April last year and “got married” at a temple in another district. Three months later they decided to return home, when Sathi suspected she may be pregnant.
A jealous relative went and reported to the police that Sathi was married before the legal age of 18 years. A case was registered by the police under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and also against Sathi’s “husband” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The girl was temporarily placed in an institution for women in her home district of Trichur, and then transferred to the Government Girls’ Home at Ernakulam. From here she was moved to the Nirbhaya Home (set up for victims of child sexual abuse).
Sathi had – by this time – done a home pregnancy test which confirmed she was pregnant. She spoke about this only to her mother, who told the staff of the Nirbhaya Home. When the pregnancy was also confirmed by the staff of the institution, Sathi was transferred to Tejus Home.
Sathi had two questions of us – what had she (and her “husband”) done wrong; and why was she in an institution when her mother was willing to take care of her? Her first question was fairly easy to answer – that according to Indian law a girl has to be 18 years before she can marry, and the legal age of consent (for both boys and girls) is also 18 years. Her second question was more difficult to answer – that though her mother said she would take care of her, family finances would probably need her to go to work for a large part of the day. The Child Welfare Committee also had reports that both of Sathi’s parents were alcoholic, and had poor parenting skills. And finally – that if she was at any place other than at Tejus Home she would most likely have her baby through a C-section as it is generally taken for granted that a teenager would not be able to have a natural childbirth. At the age of 17 it is difficult to accept cold logic – and Sathi is now counting the days when she can go back home with her baby. However, she is happy at Tejus Home, enjoys the friendship of another 17 year old who is also in the Home; cooks meals, exercises and follows the instructions of the midwife to ensure she has a natural delivery.
Sathi confessed that her childhood ambition was to be a nurse – and the therapist is encouraging her to explore the possibilities of translating this dream into reality.
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