For the first time in south Rajasthan, a 16-year old girl got her marriage annulled by the family court in Udaipur.

The girl was married to a boy from Rajsamand 3 years ago in 2011. The young bride faced harassment at her in-laws place and was deserted by her husband later when he came to know that she suffered from AIDS. A petition was filed jointly for annulment of marriage in February and the verdict came on June 12.

The 13 year old girl was studying in class four when her parents married her off to a 19 year old boy Roop Singh from Rajsamand. Since the girl was young then, she wasn’t sent off but in May 2014, the in-laws came to claim her.

According to the girl, she was treated badly by the husband who even abused her physically. Later, when the family came to know that she suffered from AIDS, Roop Singh left her back home in Udaipur.

The girl sought separation from Aasra Vikas Sansthan, the authorized family counseling center in Udaipur. Bhojraj Singh of FCC said, “From the documents, we realized that the marriage itself was illegal as both the bride and groom were minors at the time of wedding.”

The girl had acquired the disease from her parents in her early year which wasn’t revealed to the boy’s family. The girl wasn’t interested to live with her husband, instead wanted to continue studies and get a job.

In February, an annulment petition was filed in family court by mutual consent and recently the court declared the marriage null and void. Bhojraj claims, “This is the first case in south Rajasthan where a girl is bold enough to voice her opinion.”