Action against child marriage should not be community specific

New Delhi: Unprecedented crackdown against child marriages in Assam on the face of it is a welcome step but it should not be used to target a particular community as is being widely perceived.

More than 2, 500 people have been arrested under the POCSO (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in the last few days after Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma declared that his government would begin a ‘war’ on child marriage.

The arrestees included brides, grooms and their parents, Muslim clerics and Hindu priests. Over 4000 FIRs have been filed. The state police chief stated that a list of 8000 such people in the state is ready and no one will be spared.

According to Sarma while men who married girls below 14 years of age would be booked under the POCSO and those marrying girls between 14 and 18 years would be booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

The legal age of marriage in India is 18 for women and 21 for men. Many cases of child marriage in Assam, a state of 35 million people, are said to go unreported.

The BJP-led state government has justified the strong-arm measure on the ground that child marriages are alarmingly high in the state; the phenomenon is the principal driving force behind the worsening maternal and infant mortality rates.

The fifth National family Health Survey, conducted between 2019 and 2021, found that on an average 31 per cent of marriages in Assam are underage unions. The proportion of underage mothers and pregnant girls is 11.7 per cent compared to the national average of 6.8 per cent.

Child marriage is one of the main reasons for rising infant and maternal mortality rate in Assam. 31 per cent of marriages in the state are within the prohibited age.

Any move to eradicate the social evil is welcome. But questions arise when there are inconsistencies in its implementation. Although the Chief Minister has assured that the crackdown is not aimed at against any community, yet most detentions have taken place in districts with high Muslim and tribal populations.

He has also asserted that the drive against child marriage would continue till the next Assembly elections in 2026. This leaves one wondering what this has to do with the elections.

The crackdown has worsened the suffering of women. With male members being arrested only women are left at home and finding their daily survival difficult. There have been reports of a few women committing suicide.

Worldwide, more than 650 million women alive today are married as children. Every year, at least 12 million girls are married before they reach the age of 18.

In India UN estimates suggest that 1.5 million girls get married before they turn 18. About 16 per cent of girls in the age group 15-19 are married at present.

According to 2011 census, 44 per cent of women in Assam were married before the age of 18. Figures for Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were 47 per cent, 46 per cent and 43 per cent respectively. In the last five years, Karnataka has seen an increase of 300 per cent in child marriages.

It is universally accepted fact that systematic legislation and enforcement are needed to eliminate the menace of child marriage.

The World Bank and UNESCO have pointed out that multi-pronged and systematic planning were required to eradicate child marriage. The population and the country can be saved from this social menace only through a multiplicity of efforts including allocating sufficient funds, improving women’s education, providing financial assistance to overcome the hardships of life and imparting training in skill development.

In Assam child marriages are more prevalent amongst Muslims. Educating Muslim girls should be given the highest priority.

Rather than using coercive measures the Assam government should use education and mass campaign to deal with the problem of child marriage.

—-INDIA NEWS STREAM