NUWAKOT, NEPAL -- Sapana Balami is wearing a blue frock. Her long hair is tied back with a rubber band. The lanky 14-year-old girl looks pale and worn-out. She says it feels strange to carry a bulky backpack at the same time she carries a child in her belly.
Balami is a ninth grader at Bhawani Secondary School of Kagatigaun in Nuwakot, a northeastern district 12 miles from Kathmandu. She is married. She is six months pregnant. Like many of the village girls here, Balami was married at an early age.
Durga Devi, a local woman, says many of the young girls in the village are pregnant, while other teens have just had their babies. Several others have become engaged recently, she says. “Tying the nuptial knot at an early age is our tradition and identity,” Devi says.
But Balami says the marriage was against her wishes. Today, she sits inside her classroom as classmates socialize outside during a break. “My parents married me off without my consent saying that it has been tradition for generations,” she says.
She married fellow villager Kiran Balami, 20, one year ago. Since her wedding, she says her life has become one hectic routine that begins at five in the morning. She cleans the house, feeds the cattle, washes clothes, prepares and serves breakfast all before heading off to school. “I longed to study. So, I didn't quit it even after marriage,” she says. “Ever since I became pregnant, I am in tension. Who will listen to my pain and suffering?” she asks of her community that accepts and encourages child marriage.
Sapana’s classmate Sita Balami, 14, gave birth to a baby girl 11 days ago. She, however, cannot return to school, as her family members required her to stay home.
Chakraman Shrestha, a teacher at the local school in Nuwakot, says out of 5,000 people in the village about 70 percent are married. “And engagement has been already arranged for some others,” Shrestha says.
The tradition of the engagements is an important part of local culture. When a young man’s family visits the family of a local girl, they bring coconuts, chocolate and other sweets. If the girl’s family accepts the sweets, the engagement is considered formal. If she elopes with someone else other than the chosen groom after the engagement, the girl’s family has to pay as much as 100,000 rupees, $1350 USD, to the groom’s family as fine for the trespass. “Marrying off their children as early as possible is taken as the pride among the locals. Since marriage below 20 is not allowed by law, we tell them not to do so,” Shrestha says, though the advice is rarely welcome. Shrestha says he has received a death threat when he asked a local family “not to marry off their underage children,” he says.
Print
