Urban areas are worse-hit: Study
More than half of the child marriages in the state are preceded by elopement, according to the women development and child welfare department (WDCWD). The state stopped 728 child marriages in 201617 and 431 so far this year. Awareness campaigns and monetary incentives under the Kalyana Lakshmi Pathakam are in full swing to arrest child marriages.
School dropout teenage girls took the maximum advantage of elopement as they had enough time at the disposal to get attracted to the teenage affairs, department officials said. Mahbubnagar has the highest number of child marriages in the state followed by Khammam and Nalgonda districts.
The fall in number is attributed to awareness among parents. KRS Laxmi Devi, joint director, women development and child welfare department, said, “We stopped 431 child marriages this year. Majority of them are elopement cases. Whenever we try to prevent an elopement, they play truant and move to other districts and the neighbouring states. Elopement is increasing among school dropouts as they sit idle and get attracted to the teenage affairs. The figures showed that child marriages came down compared with last year.”
Elopement, teenage affairs and teenage pregnancies influence parents to seek alliance for daughter at a tender age. G. K. Sunanda, district women welfare officer, Hyderabad, said, “Due to increase in teenage affairs many parents prefer child marriages, which occur due to school dropout, poverty and teenage affairs.”
Achutya Rao, a child rights activist, said, “When a minor elopes with a major it is a crime on part of the major and it is the duty of government officials to rescue and rehabilitate the minor. Also, child marriages happen because of discrimination among boys and girls.”
He also blamed the slow progress of awareness campaigns. “The government should organise awareness campaigns. Anganwadi workers, village panchayat presidents and revenue assistants should be made accountable for child marriages.” Urban areas have the highest number of child marriages in India, says a study by Young Lives India, the Indian chapter of an international project on childhood poverty.
Most of the child marriages in India take place in 13 states in the country.
Urban areas of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Davangere in Karnataka are known for child marriages. Maharashtra with 16 districts tops among the Indian states. Mumbai, Mumbai suburban, Thane and Pune are worse-hit, the study said.
K. Sai Laxmi, child rights activist from MV Foundation, said, “Child marriages are rampant in Hyderabad due to the presence of large number of migrants. Lack of awareness among parents also results in child marriages.”
She added, “They constantly fear that their children will elope. Parents in rural and urban areas also fear their children will choose partners from other castes. A few parents are misusing the Kalyana Lakshmi Pathakam scheme to get `75,000 for their daughter’s marriage.”