Spanish director shines spotlight on child marriage in India

MADRID (AFP) - Despite regular moves to ban the practice which culminated in an initial ban as early as 1927 for girls aged less than 12, child marriage remains a widespread custom affecting millions in India.

Shocked at the continuing existence of marrying off pre-pubescent young girls, Spanish film director Eva Diaz sought to shine a spotlight on the issue with her 2004 film "Shakti," shown at this week's ImagineIndia film festival here. Diaz's film, which she brought out to coincide with the International Year of the Woman in India, is named after the Hindu concept portraying the manifestation of feminine cosmic energy.

But for Diaz, the hour-long documentary, subbreastled 'the power of women,' is the culmination of three months of research and shooting which stoked powerful energy of a different kind -- to publicise the fate of the young brides.

"We started off wanting to show the changes that some women are making in society. It was a long process and heartwarming to see groups of women organising themselves independently and demanding a say," Diaz told AFP on Saturday.

At the same time, in the course of three visits she felt an overpowering urge "to transmit a message" about child marriage, still common in remote regions such as Rajasthan, where feudal traditions leave women socially disadvantaged.

Although under Indian law 18 is the minimum age for a woman to marry and 21 for a man and parliament adopted the Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1978, updating a 1929 Act, the practice continues and Diaz said she felt compelled to address the issue.

"I felt that nobody is really aware of what is going on in this regard," she said.

"People, when they look at India, are generally only accustomed to see touristy side and the exoticism of the country."

The film follows the experience of a group of girls, focusing in on Savita, a nine-year-old being prepared for marriage to a boy she does not know while a commentary informs the viewer that "30 million children get married every year in India."

Many of the youngsters have had little or no education and, as one remarks, "in my town, when you do get an education, you LEAVE."

However, the dowry that comes with marriage is an attractive proposition to parents and so the cycle continues.

"My dad is poor. He has no money," as Savita puts it.

"When a child gets married from seven years old, she has no childhood. She is a chattal," is how a female lawyer bluntly sees it.

The film also focuses on women working in cooperatives on the land and environmental groups, where activist Vandana Shiva insists that women have the power to change society.

"To be a woman is to be in solidarity with all forms of life," says Shiva.

But Christina Samy, coordinator with the buttociation of Rural Education and Development Service (AREDS) and who also works with SWATE, the Society of Women in Action for Total Empowerment, warns that the prevailing system remains a barrier, especially in rural areas.

"In India everybody feels inferior to somebody else. The caste system should be scrapped," she insists.

"Shakti" was one of 35 films to earn a showing at the festival which ends Sunday.

Cinema director and ImigineIndia chairman Fernando Colomo plans to take the festival north to Valladolid, home to the Casa de India cultural foundation, as well as to the western city of La Coruna and the northern resort of Santander.

Next year they hope to take the festival, which includes a range of film-related workshops and round table discussions on the industry, to Barcelona.

India is due to reciprocate by holding a festival of Spanish cinema next year at several venues, most notably Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata.

ImagineIndia director Qazi Abdur Rahim said before the festival got under way that "Indian cinema can change society" in a way that neither laws nor politics could imagine.