It is seven in the morning in Aragam, a tribal village in north Kashmir\u2019s Bandipore district. The temperature hovers around 2\u00b0C. In an open cowshed, 19-year-old Razia Hussain stands wrapped in a faded woollen shawl, scattering fodder before two cows. Her fingers are stiff from the cold. She pauses briefly to rub her hands together, then resumes.<\/p>\n
This is how her day begins. Every day.<\/p>\n
After feeding the cattle, she walks straight to the kitchen. The water is boiled for the tea, and the dough is kneaded for the flatbread. The utensils have been scrubbed, and the floors are swept. By the time the sun rises over the village, Razia has already been working for hours.<\/p>\n
\u2018There is no fixed time to rest<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018From morning till night, I keep working.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Razia studied until class 9. She says she enjoyed school and imagined a different future for herself. \u2018I wanted to become a doctor,<\/em>\u2019 she says, her voice steady. \u2018In our Gujjar community, we don\u2019t have enough doctors. I wanted to help my people.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Even illness does not interrupt Razia\u2019s routine. \u2018Whether I am sick or tired, I have to wake up early<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018There is no one to share the work with. Everything falls on me.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n At the age of 17, her marriage was fixed. Soon after, her books were packed away. \u2018I cried a lot when I left school,<\/em>\u2019 she recalls. \u2018I didn\u2019t want to get married so early.<\/em>\u2019 Now 19, she says, \u2018I feel my childhood ended very quickly<\/em>. Sometimes I see girls going to school, and I remember my own days as a schoolgirl.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Even illness does not interrupt Razia\u2019s routine. \u2018Whether I am sick or tired, I have to wake up early<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018There is no one to share the work with. Everything falls on me.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Aragam has more than 400 households, and many belong to the Gujjar community, which is part of the larger Gujjar\u2013Bakarwal tribal population that makes up nearly 11.9 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s residents. Known for their pastoral livelihoods and seasonal migration between hills and plains, the community has preserved its distinct cultural and social practices.<\/p>\n Among these social practices is the early marriage of girls, which is found in several pockets.<\/p>\n Jammu and Kashmir reports relatively low numbers of registered child marriage cases compared to several other Indian states. However, local activists and researchers caution that these figures may not capture the full picture in remote tribal belts, where age documentation is inconsistent, and marriages are often informal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Official data presented in the Parliament in recent years shows that Jammu and Kashmir reports relatively low numbers of registered child marriage cases compared to several other Indian states. However, local activists and researchers caution that these figures may not capture the full picture in remote tribal belts, where age documentation is inconsistent, and marriages are often informal.<\/p>\n Further, in migratory communities, the absence of birth certificates can make age verification difficult, and the enforcement of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act uneven.<\/p>\n In villages like Aragam, girls often leave school not because of academic failure, but because marriage is seen as the natural next step.<\/p>\n Salma Banu was only fifteen-years-old when she was married. She was a class 10 student at the time.\u00a0 Salma grew up in Rajouri, but her marriage took her nearly 250 kilometres north to a village in Baramulla district.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I was still playing with children of my age,<\/em>\u2019 she recalls. \u2018I didn\u2019t even understand what marriage truly meant.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u2018My favourite subject was Urdu<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018I loved reading and writing. I thought I would study further<\/em>.\u2019 Instead, she was sent to a new household in a different district. \u2018I was still playing with children of my age,<\/em>\u2019 she recalls. \u2018I didn\u2019t even understand what marriage truly meant.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n The transition was abrupt, both geographically and emotionally. \u2018Everything happened very fast,\u2019 she says. \u2018I was not mentally prepared<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n For seven years after her marriage, she did not conceive. In her husband\u2019s village, questions followed. She describes a period marked by medical visits, whispered conversations, and incessant scrutiny of her body.<\/p>\n \u2018There was weakness in my body<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018I was very young and not strong enough<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n In those years, the pressure she faced was not about education, like it was for the other girls her age, but about fertility. She gradually learnt to do household work, adjusting to expectations she says she barely understood at first.<\/p>\n But she does not frame her regret in dramatic terms. Looking back, she says, \u2018If I had continued my studies, maybe my life would have been different.<\/em>\u2019 Adding, \u2018Girls should not be married when they are still children.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Her family, like many others, struggled financially. Marriage was not only viewed as security,\u00a0 but also as reducing financial responsibilities at home by one.<\/p>\n For Gujjar\u2013Bakarwal families who migrate seasonally with their livestock, access to schooling is already precarious. Children may enrol in one school during winter and miss months during the summer move to higher pastures. Some districts operate seasonal schools, but continuity isn\u2019t a guarantee. Given this context, girls\u2019 education is often the first to be interrupted, and often permanently so.<\/p>\n In several tribal hamlets, teachers and activists say that once a girl crosses mid-adolescence, concerns about safety, family honour, and economic strain converge. The decision to marry becomes a pragmatic concern. Boys, by contrast, are more likely to continue their education or seek wage work.<\/p>\n Access to health services<\/strong><\/a> adds another layer of complexity. Primary health centres are frequently located far from migratory routes. Adolescent pregnancies, local health workers say, can carry higher risks<\/strong><\/a> of anaemia and complications, though systematic data specific to nomadic populations remain limited.<\/p>\n Climate pressures, such as shrinking pastures and unpredictable weather,\u00a0 have further strained pastoral incomes. In years of loss, early marriage is often viewed as a means of reducing financial burdens.<\/p>\n In Bandipora, 26-year-old Shahida Khanum, herself married at 18, has been working within the community to delay marriages and encourage girls to remain in school.<\/p>\n \u2018I have seen how early marriage affects girls<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018It stops their education<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n Khanum visits tribal hamlets, speaking to parents and elders. Alongside these conversations, she runs small craft sessions for young women, teaching them beaded jewellery making, knitting, Sozni-style embroidery, and traditional Laska cap-making.<\/p>\n Her approach is pragmatic. Families, she says, respond more readily when they see income possibilities. \u2018When girls earn something, even a small amount, people start looking at them differently,<\/em>\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n Progress is gradual. \u2018Change does not happen in one day,<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 she notes.<\/p>\n At the district level in Jammu and Kashmir, Child Marriage Prohibition Officers have been appointed to monitor violations and counsel families. Cases can be reported through the child helpline (1098), now linked to the national emergency helpline 112. Government campaigns under schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao<\/em> and Mission Shakti<\/em> promote girls\u2019 education and awareness of legal age requirements.<\/p>\n Identifying underage marriages depends heavily on local reporting. In areas where marriages are conducted within tight-knit networks and documentation is sparse, detection is difficult.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Yet implementation in migratory and remote communities remains complex. Officials acknowledge that identifying underage marriages depends heavily on local reporting. In areas where marriages are conducted within tight-knit networks and documentation is sparse, detection is difficult.<\/p>\n Activists argue that enforcement alone cannot address the issue without parallel improvements in schooling access, transport, documentation, and adolescent health services tailored to pastoral life.<\/p>\n Back in Aragam, the morning cold lingers in the cowshed long after daylight spreads across the fields.<\/p>\n Razia has finished feeding the cows. In the kitchen, dough rests beneath a cloth before being rolled into flatbread. Her schoolbooks, she says, are still somewhere in a trunk.<\/p>\n Occasionally, when she sees girls in uniforms walking down the road, she thinks about the white coat she once imagined she would someday wear. Then she takes a long breath and turns back to the mud stove.<\/p>\n Quotes in this article are the author\u2019s free translation from Urdu.\u00a0Some of the quotes in this article have been edited for clarity and length.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n
A village-wide pattern<\/strong> of child and early marriages<\/h3>\n
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Sent 250 kilometres away<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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![\"child](\"https:\/\/feminisminindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_3879-1-1024x768.jpg\")
Mobility, schooling, and implementation gaps<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"child](\"https:\/\/feminisminindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_3850-1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAn attempt to shift the conversation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"child](\"https:\/\/feminisminindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC04237-1024x683.jpg\")
The law and its success<\/strong> in preventing child marriages<\/h3>\n
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Before sunrise<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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