English
Almora (Uttarakhand), Oct 10: Priests at the Chitai Golu devta temple have found a unique way to ensure that they are not witnesses to underage marriages. In the wake of increasing number of underage teenagers being married off in the town, priest have decided to check Aadhaar cards of the couple getting hitched. The priests insist of checking their Aadhaar card before conducting the wedding. During the wedding season, nearly four to five marriages take place every day and about 400 marriages in a year.
As per a Times of India quoted, Hari Vinod Pant, the priest and treasurer of the temple committee said that there have been cases of underage Nepalese girls who want to get married. With many wedding being conducted on one day, it became difficult for the temple authorities to corss checking if they were marrying adults. Many couples wanting to get married reach the temple as it is considered auspicious. Blessings of Golu devta, deity of the temple is another reason for it. People of Kumaon consider the deity the god of justice. (ALSO READ- Ahmedabad: Police help minor girl escape child marriage after she dials ’181′)
Pant was quoted saying, “Since we organise a large number of marriages at the temple, it is very difficult sometimes to verify the name and address of the couple. Many couples come from outside the state to get married here and it not possible to verify whether the couples have met the minimum age requirements for marriage. There have been instances when couples who came to the temple were found to be underage and it turned out they had eloped to get married. There have also been cases of Nepalese underage girls coming here to get married. So the temple committee took the decision of checking Aadhaar cards before agreeing to conduct the wedding.” (ALSO READ: Jamshedpur schoolgirl stands for her rights, rejects child marriage)
However, temple officials said that they only check their Aadhar cards and do not ask for other proof of identity like voter ID card or anything. A temple official was quoted saying, “Aadhar card has a great deal of composite information like name, age, father’s name, address and is a trustworthy identity proof. That is why, we have decided that couples should bring their Aadhaar cards along with them.”
Couple not having a proper Aadhar card can get married if any of the temple committee knows any of the family of the bride or groom and that they have completed minimum age requirements. Pant added saying, “In case the couple aspiring to get married doesn’t have Aadhaar cards made, Pant said that they can take a decision on “whether we can solemnize their wedding provided any member of the temple committee knows either the bride or groom or their family and is satisfied that they have met the requirements for marriage.” (Image Credits- trawell.in)
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