Understanding Child Marriages

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/child-brides/gorney-text

I was shocked when I saw this article about the children in Rajasthan that were married at the ages of fifteen, thirteen, and five. The author described the situations as one of top secrecy because, if the police found out about it, criminal charges would be brought up and the family would be "shamed." This phrase confused me, because I was not sure as to what the family would be shamed about. Were they not proud of the secret marriage? Or did the author mean that people outside of the supporting community would shame the family and they would not be viewed the same way?

I was surprised also at how it was stressed that the five year old bride, named Rajani, was indeed loved by her family. The article said that her grandfather had made sure to marry her into the family that her aunt had also been married into so that she would not get lonely. I cannot understand how the marriage of a five year old would be a demonstration of love and affection. It was obvious in the article that this marriage was top secret because it stated that girls who have not yet experienced puberty were sort-of slipped into the wedding ceremony and their names were kept off the invitation. The families knew that it was wrong, but they went through the ceremony anyway. There are child marriages occurring all over the world, for many different reasons, but I could not see how love was one of them. Some occur to resolve family feuds and others occur to clear a dept. However the marriages that were introduced in the beginning of the article never included any reason behind the union. It was not until I read further into the piece that I found my answer. It was through a conversation that a father who had arranged a child marriage was having with a worker of the ICRW. He said "If I am willing to get my daughter married late, will you take responsibility for her protection?" After reading this I began to understand why some families would resort of child marriages and how it could be a demonstration of love. Some families do it to ensure their daughters protection. Although I disagree with this form of arranged marriage, I understand that in some cases the families are marrying their daughters, before the legal age of eighteen, because of love. However I also understand that this "love" is not evident in all of the child marriage cases.
-Sinead Brennan