A ritual in which a 12-year-old girl was offered as a ‘bride’ to ‘the moon god’ as a ‘Nilaappen’ in a remote village near Vedasandhur in Dindigul district earlier this week, has raised concerns among child rights activists.
Human rights activist from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and advocate D. Nagasaila contended that any ritual that isolates the child and projects her as a bride is a violation of her rights.
As per the practice of a community in the area, a teenage girl who is yet to attain puberty is chosen to be the ‘Nilaappen’ (moon girl) for three years. The ritual is performed for seven days every year, with the culmination of the annual event on the night of the full moon day in the Tamil month of Thai. This year, too, Kaarthika (name changed) was chosen for the ritual in the Devinaickanpatti village.
On Tuesday, she was decorated with aavaram flowers and taken around the village in a procession. Following a brief ceremony in a temple, she was made to stay in a shelter made of thatched leaves. The following morning, soon after she lit a lamp and floated it in a nearby pond, the festival was considered to be over and she ceased to be the bride for this year.
A person privy to the event said the main purpose of the ritual was to “appease the moon god to bless girls in the village for better health. She was made the bride for the moon god to receive his blessings.” He maintained that the ritual was being observed for the fifth generation. This year, the ritual was completed a day early because of the lunar eclipse.
Child rights activist Vidyasagar said, “The child will experience isolation and peer pressure.” But M. Priyamvadha, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, University of Madras, maintained that such practices need to be studied well. “It should be a problem only if there was exploitation of the girl verbally, physically or psychologically,” she said.
Chairperson of the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights M.P. Nirmala said (after an inquiry into the incident) that it was only a ritual for a girl to come of age.
