JODHPUR, May 6 -- A Jodhpur family court has annulled the child marriage of a 20-year-old woman who was married at the age of nine, bringing an end to nearly a decade-long forced union. Judge Varun Talwar of Family Court No. 2 passed the order, granting relief to the woman with support from Saarthi Trust. The woman, belonging to a rural part of Jodhpur district, was married in 2015 under social pressure when she was about nine years old. As she grew older, she began to resist the marriage and refused to accept the relationship. During this period, she came in contact with child rights activist Kriti Bharti, managing trustee of Saarthi Trust, who has been working on campaigns to annul child marriages. With Bharti's assistance, the woman filed a petition in the family court around one-and-a-half years ago seeking annulment. During the proceedings, the husband denied that it was a child marriage and claimed that both parties were adults at the time of the wedding. However, documentary evidence presented by the petitioner's side established that the marriage happened when she was a minor. After considering the arguments and material on record, the court declared the marriage null and void. In its order, the court observed that child marriage remains a serious social evil that adversely affects the lives of young girls and called for firm action to eliminate the practice....