• Dr. S. Sree Devi

In ancient days, it was very common for young childrento be betrothed or married at a very early, age and there were instances of betrothals being performedeven as soon as the child was born.One of the worst consequences of such marriageswas early widowhood, due to the sudden demise of the “boy – husband”.In the nineteenth century there were many child – widows in SouthTravancore as there were in other states.Nowonder, the child marriage drew the attention ofsocial reformers.Child-marriages resulted in the illtreatment of many of the ignorant and innocent young girls. Widow-remarriage was forbidden, resulting in a community of child widows.The position of women in the medieval period was not stable. Many child widows of the lower castes existed with as devadasis.History has witnessed several movements against child marriage, but none of them succeeded in its total abolition. The first bill was introduced in 1927 which was known as Hindu Child Marriage Act 1927. In South Travancore child marriage was common among the Brahmins, the Vellalas and the Chettis.The advent of the British rule in India in the eighteenth century brought about changes in the Hindu and the Islamic laws.Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820 – 1891) championed the widow remarriage movement which gainedmomentum.Widow Re-marriage Associations were established to spread the Movement.In 1873 a Widow Re-marriage Society was founded at Nagercoil by SeshaIyengar for promoting Widow re-marriage.The first Widow re-marriage under theasupices of the Hindu Women Remarriage Association was celebrated at Mylapore on June 7, 1883.

CHILD – MARRIAGE AND WIDOW RE-MARRIAGE

"CHILD – MARRIAGE AND WIDOW RE-MARRIAGE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 2, page no.1196-1201, February-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1802246.pdf

"CHILD – MARRIAGE AND WIDOW RE-MARRIAGE", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 2, page no. pp1196-1201, February-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1802246.pdf