Child Brides Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8500 words

Child Brides - Essay Example Martinez hails from a Native American Indian tribe from the Oaxaca valley in Mexico known as the Trique. He was approached by his onetime neighbor and fellow Oaxacan Margarito de Jesus Galindo, who requested the hand of his daughter in marriage. Margarito was only 18 and Martinez’s daughter was just 14. Further, the father had apparently followed a Trique tradition by demanding a sizable dowry from the suitor. He asked to be given $16,000 in cash, 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine and six cases of meat. Apparently this was to be paid on installment basis and the couple was allowed to cohabitate for a week without any kind of legal sanction as per the California law. Margarito defected in his payment within a week of the marriage making his father in law furious. To get back his daughter, he enlisted the aid of the state police – but here, he cunningly covered the part about their marriage deal; choosing only to reveal that his daughter had gone missing. The police were quick to find the eloped couple and soon came to know the entire story. As it happens, numerous state and federal laws of California and the United States of America had been broken here. The girl was only 14 years old, which is 4 years less than the legal age for marriage in California. The police further chose to label this as â€Å"human trafficking† and Martinez has been jailed. He has been awaiting trial. Further Galindo was cited for statutory rape and released. This is based on the testimony of the girl who confessed to having consummated their relationship within the week of the marriage. The nature of the incident and the atypical dowry demanded captured headlines all around the world, with a sudden resurgence of interest in the traditions and practices of the Trique Indians. While a large section of the world population condemned the incident as equivalent to trafficking in women, another section, particularly