Exchange marriage
Owing to certain pressures, women are forced to marry without having a say in the matter
A sweeping statement of the Gujarat High Court about the skewed sex ratio in that State throws light on the problem of exchange marriages. This concept of marriage makes the girl a tool of exchange wherein one family agrees to give their son in marriage to a girl from another family in exchange of the son of the second family marrying a girl from the first. This usually happens with sister-brother pairs. It is an age-old custom not exclusive to Gujarat, but in recent decades practised in States where brides are said to be scarce. The case is about a man petitioning for the return of her wife he claims has been confined by her parents to their house. The couple got married recently, but her father was unhappy about it. He wanted his daughter to divorce her husband so that he could get her married and in exchange his son would also get married. If she did not comply, her brother would remain unmarried; that was the father’s worry. The court cautioned the father and allowed the couple to unite. The two-judge Bench hearing the case observed: “Depletion of sex ratio in…Gujarat results into more and more such cases coming up to the court where on one hand birth of the daughter is not acceptable and on the other hand with depletion of the ratio, the marriages are essentially the exchange marriages which take place regardless of will, wish, emotion and the age.”
India’s sex ratio — calculated in terms of women per 1,000 men — is quite healthy, even comparable to developed countries. The fifth National Family Health Survey says for every 1,000 men there are 1,020 women. However, the sex ratio is positive in the rural areas, not so in urban areas. The sex ratio at birth (SRB) is another cause for concern because it continues to be lower than the average. The analysis of the data reveals that 13 States and Union Territories have more males than females. The skewed ratio exists in urban areas in 22 States and rural areas of 14 States. The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have the worst urban sex ratio: 775 women per 1,000 men. It is not just female foeticide that is causing the problem. Male selective migration from rural to urban areas is also a reason why the latter end up with more men. Thirdly, low SRBs since the 1970s have led to “surplus men” in countries like India and China. Fourthly, educated women in rural areas are not willing to marry illiterate men. As a result, some men end up remaining unmarried. In some regions fraternal polyandry is practised. Or, brides are “imported” from “surplus” States. Or, exchange marriages become the solution. In all these cases, the women have no choice and face problems of alien cultures and customs. Unless the SRBs normalise, the courts will keep facing such sad stories.
Source: PTI
