Large families and poor health for children and mothers were among the results. Sixty-three percent of children under 4 were found to be severely undernourished. Average life expectancy for women was 58. In every case, the figures were among the worst for any Indian state. Social workers report that many husbands tire of their marriages after the third, fourth or fifth child, when their wives are still teen-agers.
Alcoholism contributes to domestic violence, with sometimes fatal beatings.
In some cases, husbands sell their wives, and even their unmarried daughters, as sexual partners to other men. In scores of cases every year, village women strike back by killing their husbands, only to face long terms in prison. On the day of the festival, usually in late April or early May, roads are choked with tractors pulling trailers filled with gaily dressed wedding guests. On the outskirts of every settlement there are open-sided wedding tents in brightly patterned fabrics known as pandals. Each year, formal warnings are posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, but they have little impact.