On a cold February morning in Kashmir, 35-year-old Myuna Akhtar walks towards a hand pump near her temporary shelter. Her back is bent, and it is difficult to discern her age.\u00a0Her day starts by washing utensils in the cold water; she then collects firewood and prepares food for her children. Myuna is fasting, but she ensures her children are fed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Myuna was only thirteen when she was married to a man nearly twice her age. She says that her father left her no other choice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Myuna was only thirteen when she was married to a man nearly twice her age. She says that her father left her no other choice. She smiles weakly and says, \u2018I was just a child<\/em>. There was family pressure. But I didn\u2019t even understand what marriage meant.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Out of her thirteen pregnancies, four of her children died due to preterm births and illness. With tears in her eyes, she says, \u2018I am thankful to Allah that nine of them survived.\u2019<\/em> She describes her life as a constant cycle of pregnancies. \u2018I feel like I was born to give birth and feed them<\/em>,\u2019 she says. Quietly adding, \u2018No one asked me if I was ready physically or emotionally to have children<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n Myuna\u2019s pregnancies have taken a toll on her health. \u2018I am no longer able to stand for long hours. I don\u2019t know who will care for my kids now<\/em>.\u2019 Doctors warn that repeated, closely spaced pregnancies weaken the spine and pelvic muscles, especially when nutrition is poor.\u00a0\u00a0Myuna suffers from many health issues. She experiences constant back pain, fatigue, and anxiety. But she has little time to address her health. \u2018I am in pain all the time<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018But I still have to cook, clean, fetch water, and look after the children and my husband. If I stop, everything stops.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t enough space. Sometimes I feel that I have been living in hell all these years<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Today, Myuna shares a home with 11 family members. The cramped living quarters afford no safety or privacy, and offer few opportunities for rest. \u2018One child is crying, another is asking for milk, and another is making a mess,\u2019 <\/em>she says. Adding, \u2018There isn\u2019t enough space. Sometimes I feel that I have been living in hell all these years<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n Myuna was only 13 when she was married. She remembers the pain she experienced in the days after her wedding. \u2018Our shelters are close to each other. Even if I wanted to scream, I couldn\u2019t because everyone would hear it<\/em>,\u2019 she says. Quietly remarking, \u2018Who could I complain to?<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Myuna belongs to the Gujjar-Bakarwal community, who practice seasonal migration. The community migrates from Pir Panjal in Jammu to the higher pastures of Kashmir with their cattle in the summer. In the winter, they return to their homes. They live on small pieces of land, setting up temporary shelters made of tin sheets and plastic.\u00a0<\/p>\n She says that within the community, girls are often seen only as future wives and mothers. Their age is rarely taken into account, and their consent isn\u2019t sought. \u2018No one asks us what we want,<\/em>\u2019 she says. She adds, \u2018If a boy is born, there is a celebration. But when it\u2019s a girl, they begin to think of her marriage<\/em>.<\/p>\n Myuna says that a girl\u2019s entire life can be changed by child marriage<\/strong><\/a>, before she even understands the weight of this decision that has been made for her. But Myuna\u2019s story is only one of many.<\/p>\n 50 kilometres away, in another village in Kashmir\u2019s Bandipora, 27-year-old Shabnam Akhtar is wearing a faded green pheran. Inside her small, dark shelter, smoke from a mud stove is spreading across the room.\u00a0She and her children are coughing. The children have soot on their bodies. They walk barefoot and without proper clothes.<\/p>\n Shabnam was married at seventeen-years-old. \u2018My aim was to study more<\/em>,\u2019 she says. \u2018But marriage has ruined my dreams<\/em>.\u2019 Shabnam became pregnant in the first year of her marriage. She didn\u2019t have regular medical check-ups because the hospitals were far and hardly affordable. \u2018Sometimes I did not have the money for the commute,<\/em>\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n \u2018I still remember when I experienced pain during my first pregnancy; there was no doctor nearby<\/em>,\u2019 she recalls. \u2018I thought I would die, but someone managed to arrange a car<\/em>.\u2019 She says medicines were also often unavailable. Sometimes she relied on home remedies, sometimes she would simply wait for the pain to pass.<\/p>\n Early marriage, she says, brought health problems she still carries. She doesn\u2019t feel strong enough to manage her household. She says, \u2018My<\/em> body feels much older than that of someone my age.\u2019<\/em> But the impact is not just physical. \u2018Mentally, I feel tired all the time,<\/em>\u2019 she says. \u2018There is constant pressure to manage the house, the children, and the animals. There is no rest. Sometimes I feel anxious for no reason, and I cry alone.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Child and early marriages have robbed many women and girls of their professional aspirations and impacted their personal lives. Shabnam says, \u2018I lost everything, my health, education, and future.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u2018I get anxiety attacks,<\/em> and I am depressed sometimes,\u2019 she says. Adding, \u2018I work day and night without any rest. I cry alone, but who would listen to my problems?<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Child and early marriages have robbed many women and girls of their professional aspirations and impacted their personal lives. Shabnam says, \u2018I lost everything, my health, education, and future.<\/em>\u2019 She asks, \u2018How can a 17-year-old girl raise a child when she is a child herself? How is it justified to expect a child to be a mother?<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n In the Gujjar-Bakerwal community, the intersection of tradition with poverty, lack of healthcare access, and lack of education leads to child marriages, leaving young brides to face pregnancies, childbirth, and emotional stress without any familial or institutional support.<\/p>\n Child and early marriages expose girls to major health risks and complications.\u00a0 Early pregnancies carry increased complications, such as anaemia, obstructed labour, premature birth, low birth weight, and even maternal death.<\/p>\n In developing countries, about 90 per cent of births to adolescents<\/strong><\/a> occur within marriage. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth remain among the leading causes of death<\/strong><\/a> for girls aged 15\u201319. Early marriage also increases the risk of repeated pregnancies, miscarriages, untreated infections, and long-term reproductive health problems. Girls married before 15 also commonly face intimate partner violence<\/strong><\/a>, which adds deep psychological trauma<\/strong><\/a> to their already fragile health.<\/p>\n Dr Yasmeen Abdullah, a Delhi-based gynaecologist who has worked with Gujjar and Bakarwal families in Kashmir for many years, and with underprivileged people in many parts of India, says that the girls who live in remote mountains are at higher risk of facing health issues and health neglect.\u00a0\u2018In Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, where families migrate seasonally and trek long distances in the Zabarvan Mountains, access to basic care is extremely limited,<\/em>\u2019 she explains.<\/p>\n \u2018There is less health screening or nutritional support. Most young brides in the community conceive within the first year of marriage.<\/em>\u2019 She adds, \u2018A girl\u2019s pelvis is often not fully developed at 14 or 15. Early pregnancy can lead to obstructed labour, severe bleeding, and long-term complications like uterine prolapse. These are not rare cases; we see this happen frequently.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Dr Abdullah also notes that the lack of awareness about sexual and reproductive health makes the situation worse. \u2018There should be government awareness programmes on a community level. People in these communities are not taught about contraception, spacing of pregnancies, or warning signs during pregnancy. And by the time they reach the hospital, it is often too late.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Health experts say that child marriage is not only a socio-cultural issue, but it is also a public health crisis and needs to be addresed at the grassroots level.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n She also highlights that anxiety, depression, and emotional withdrawal are common, but they are rarely diagnosed. \u2018In remote communities, mental health has never been discussed,\u2019 <\/em>Dr Abdullah says. Health experts say that child marriage is not only a socio-cultural issue, but it is also a public health crisis and needs to be addressed at the grassroots level.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n On the ground, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, who are trained female community health volunteers, bridge the gap between rural communities and public health services. ASHAworker Fatima Begum has dedicated her life to serving the community. She works with Gujjar families and tracks pregnant women, and maintains their health records.<\/p>\n Fathima says, \u2018This community is more vulnerable in terms of living conditions and health<\/em>, they live in temporary shelters far from medical centres.<\/em> She also says it is difficult to follow a case to its end because members of the Gujjar-Bakarwal community migrate to higher pastures, even during treatment, making them unreachable.<\/p>\n Fatima also points to deeply rooted patriarchy. \u2018Women in these communities do not openly share their problems. And they rely on men financially<\/em><\/em> and for mobility<\/em>. In these communities, men are decision makers, and women have little say. They also fear social consequences and abuse from male family members,<\/em>\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n Sometimes perceived as a protective measure against kidnapping or sexual violence in unsafe areas, families think marrying girls early will keep them safe. However, they don\u2019t consider the severe health consequences of the decision.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n She notes that early marriage is often justified as a means of protection during migration. Sometimes perceived as a protective measure against kidnapping or sexual violence in unsafe areas, families think marrying girls early will keep them safe. However, they don\u2019t consider the severe health consequences of the decision.<\/p>\n Activists who work with these communities believe that child marriage is a structural vulnerability. Darakshan Hassan Bhat, founder of the Kashmir Women\u2019s Organisation, says early marriage among Gujjar-Bakarwals cannot be reduced to tradition alone. \u2018Early marriage is not a single cultural choice,<\/em>\u2019 she says. \u2018It is shaped by poverty, seasonal migration, tribal marginalisation, and entrenched gender norms.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n Financial insecurity plays a big role in the decision as well. \u2018Marrying off a daughter is seen as reducing economic burden and transferring responsibility,\u2019 <\/em>\u00a0Darakshan added. She further notes that education systems fail to match the community\u2019s patterns of mobility. \u2018There are often no schools on migration routes, or sometimes even where they live<\/em>,\u2019 she says. Adding, \u2018Many children drop out because their pattern of migration does not match the academic calendar. And language is also a barrier that keeps them away from schools.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n In tribal communities, school dropout rates are high. Children between the ages of 10 and 18 often don\u2019t receive an education due to the widespread practice of conducting child marriages.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Further, children born during forest migration do not have birth certificates and other documents through which their ages can be ascertained or they can access government schemes. \u2018Without proof of age, how can authorities legally establish if a child marriage has occurred?<\/em>\u2019 says Darakshan.\u00a0<\/p>\n In tribal communities, school dropout rates are high. Children between the ages of 10 and 18 often don\u2019t receive an education<\/strong><\/a> due to the widespread practice of conducting child marriages.\u00a0As per a 2015 survey<\/strong><\/a> by the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation (TRCF), 89 per cent of people marry their children between the ages of 14 and 18 among tribal populations in Jammu and Kashmir.\u00a0<\/p>\n Darakshan advocates for mobile solutions, such as mobile health clinics, mobile anganwadi centres, and mobile schools that track seasonal movement to address the issue of child and early marriages. She also says, \u2018When there is proper documentation of birth, there is more accountability. Community members must also be taught about sexual and reproductive health and legal rights, which will slowly shift mindsets.<\/em>\u2019 She also highlights the need to make legal literacy more accessible by providing it in the native language of the community.<\/p>\n Inside the shelter, Myuna looks outside as her 13-year-old daughter plays with the other children. This year, her father has decided she will be married. Myuna doesn\u2019t want her daughter to marry so young, fearing for her health.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018But<\/em> I cannot take that decision<\/em>,\u2019 she says. The family plans to move to Rajouri after Eid in March, where preparations for the wedding will begin. Teary-eyed, Myuna says another child marriage will soon take place.\u00a0<\/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
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![\"child](\"https:\/\/feminisminindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-08-at-15.27.38.png\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nShabnam\u2019s story<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Health risks associated with child marriages and early pregnancies<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Poverty, mobility, and marginalisation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The cycle continues<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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