It is seven in the morning in Aragam, a tribal village in Bandipore district in north Kashmir. The temperature is around 2°C. In an open cowshed, 19-year-old Razia Hussain stands, wrapped in a faded wool scarf, and scatters food in front of two cows. Her fingers are stiff with cold. She pauses briefly to rub her hands together, then continues.
This is how your day begins. Daily.
After feeding the cattle, she goes straight to the kitchen. The water is boiled for the tea and the dough is kneaded for the flatbread. The utensils were scrubbed and the floors swept. When the sun rises over the village, Razia has already been working for hours.
“There is no set time to rest,” she says. “I continue to work from morning to evening.”
Razia studied up to 9th grade. She said she enjoyed school and imagined a different future. “I wanted to be a doctor,” she says firmly. “In our Gujjar community, we don’t have enough doctors. I wanted to help my people.”
Even illness does not interrupt Razia’s everyday life. “Whether I’m sick or tired, I have to get up early,” she says. “There is no one to share the work with.” Everything falls on me.’
At the age of 17, their marriage was concluded. Soon her books were packed away. “When I left school I cried a lot,” she remembers. “I didn’t want to get married so early.” The now 19-year-old says: “I feel like my childhood ended very quickly.” Sometimes I see girls going to school and I remember my own time as a schoolgirl.”
Even illness does not interrupt Razia’s everyday life. “Whether I’m sick or tired, I have to get up early,” she says. “There is no one to share the work with.” Everything falls on me.’
A village-wide pattern of child and early marriages
Aragam has more than 400 households and many belong to the Gujjar community, which is part of the larger Gujjar-Bakarwal tribal population, which makes up nearly 11.9 percent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population. Known for its rural livelihood and seasonal migration between hills and plains, the community has retained its distinct cultural and social practices.
These social practices include early marriage of girls, which is found in several pockets.
Jammu and Kashmir reports a relatively low number of registered child marriages compared to several other Indian states. But local activists and researchers warn that these numbers may not reflect the full picture in remote tribal areas, where age documentation is inconsistent and marriages often take place informally.
Official data submitted to Parliament in recent years shows that Jammu and Kashmir reports a relatively low number of registered child marriage cases compared to several other Indian states. But local activists and researchers warn that these numbers may not reflect the full picture in remote tribal areas, where age documentation is inconsistent and marriages often take place informally.
In addition, the lack of birth certificates in migrant communities can complicate age verification and make enforcement of the law banning child marriage inconsistent.
In villages like Aragam, girls often leave school not because of academic failure, but because marriage is seen as the natural next step.
Sent 250 kilometers
Salma Banu was only fifteen years old when she got married. She was a 10th grade student at the time. Salma grew up in Rajouri, but her marriage took her almost 250 kilometers north to a village in Baramulla district.
“I was still playing with kids my age,” she remembers. “I didn’t even understand what marriage really meant.”
“My favorite subject was Urdu,” she says. “I loved reading and writing. I thought I would continue studying.” Instead, she was sent to a new household in a different district. “I was still playing with kids my age,” she remembers. “I didn’t even understand what marriage really meant.”
The transition was both geographically and emotionally abrupt. “Everything happened very quickly,” she says. “I wasn’t mentally prepared.”
Seven years after her marriage she was not pregnant. In her husband’s village, questions followed. She describes a time marked by visits to the doctor, whispered conversations and the incessant examination of her body.
Married at the age of 15, Salma Banu now lives with her husband and three children in a small wooden house and carries responsibilities that she took on too early. Image source: Suhail Bhat
“My body was weak,” she says. “I was very young and not strong enough.”
In those years, the pressures she faced were not about education, like other girls her age, but about fertility. Little by little, she learned to do household chores and adapted to expectations that she says she barely understood at first.
But she doesn’t put her regrets in dramatic terms. Looking back, she says: “If I had continued my studies, my life might have been different.” Adding: “Girls should not be married while they are still children.”
Her family, like many others, had financial problems. Marriage was seen not only as security but also as a reduction in financial responsibilities at home.
Mobility, school and implementation gaps
For Gujjar-Bakarwal families who migrate seasonally with their livestock, access to schooling is already precarious. Children can enroll in school in the winter and miss months in the summer and move to higher pastures. Some districts operate seasonal schools, but continuity is not a guarantee. Against this backdrop, girls’ education is often the first to be interrupted, and often permanently.
Gujjar-Bakarwal families sit outside their makeshift tarpaulin shelters in Tapper Village in Baramulla in late February, enjoying the afternoon sun. With limited protection from the cold, they spread blankets on the bare ground while children play nearby. Image source: Suhail Bhat
In several tribal villages, teachers and activists say that once a girl passes middle puberty, concerns about safety, family honor and economic burden converge. The decision to get married becomes a pragmatic matter. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to continue their education or look for paid work.
Access to health services adds another layer of complexity. Primary health centers are often located far from migration routes. That’s possible with teenage pregnancies, local health workers say carry higher risks of anemia and complications, although systematic data specific to nomadic populations remain limited.
Climate-related stresses such as shrinking rangeland and unpredictable weather have placed additional strain on pastoralist income. In years of loss, early marriage is often seen as a means of reducing financial burdens.
An attempt to postpone the conversation
In Bandipora, 26-year-old Shahida Khanum, who married at 18 herself, is campaigning in the community to delay marriages and encourage girls to stay in school.
Shahida Khanum stands in her tribal museum where she teaches young girls knitting, sozni embroidery and the craft of making traditional laska hats. Their goal is to empower girls in their community and prevent child marriage through skills and education. Image source: Suhail Bhat
“I’ve seen the impact early marriage has on girls,” she says. “It stops their education.”
Khanum visits tribal villages and speaks with parents and elders. In parallel to these conversations, she runs small craft classes for young women, where she teaches them how to make beaded jewelry, knitting, Sozni-style embroidery, and the traditional making of Laska hats.
Your approach is pragmatic. She says families are more likely to respond when they see income opportunities. “When girls earn something, even a small amount, people see them differently,” she says.
Progress is gradual. “Change doesn’t happen in a day,” she notes.
The law and its success in preventing child marriages
District-level Child Marriage Prohibition Officers have been appointed in Jammu and Kashmir to monitor violations and advise families. Cases can be reported via the children’s hotline (1098), which is now linked to the national emergency number 112. Government campaigns through programs such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Mission Shakti promote girls’ education and awareness of the legal age.
The identification of underage marriages depends heavily on local reporting. Detection is difficult in areas where marriages occur within close-knit networks and documentation is sparse.
However, implementation in migrant and remote communities remains complex. Officials acknowledge that identifying underage marriages relies heavily on on-the-ground reporting. Detection is difficult in areas where marriages occur within close-knit networks and documentation is sparse.
Activists argue that enforcement alone cannot solve the problem without parallel improvements in school access, transportation, documentation and youth health services tailored to pastoral life.
Before sunrise
Back in Aragam, the morning chill lingers in the cowshed long after daylight has spread across the fields.
Razia fed the cows. In the kitchen, the dough rests under a cloth before being rolled into flatbread. Her school books, she says, are still in a trunk somewhere.
When she occasionally sees girls in uniform walking down the street, she thinks of the white coat she once imagined she would one day wear. Then she takes a deep breath and turns back to the clay oven.
The quotes in this article are the author’s free translation from Urdu. Some of the quotes in this article have been edited for clarity and length.
This article was published as part of the Laadli Media Fellowship 2026. The opinions and views expressed are those of the author. Laadli and UNFPA do not necessarily support these views.