Indian Child Bride Has Marriage Annulled

Laxmi Sargara was only a year old when her family married her off to Rakesh, who was only three years old at the time. When Laxmi and Rakesh grew up, they did something unprecedented. They had their marriage annulled, reversing the very archaic Indian tradition and opening the door for more child couples to follow.

A few days after her parents gave her a deadline to move in with her in-laws, 18 year old Laxmi reached out to social worker in India who advocates for children's right, asking for help. The social worker contacted Laxmi's husband, who agreed to an annulment.

It is the first example we know of a couple wed in childhood wanting the marriage to be annulled, and we hope that others take inspiration from it," Kriti Bharti, the social worker who orchestrated the annulment, told AFP.