Child marriage highest in Jharkhand, nil in Kerala: Home Ministry report

In terms of checking cases of child marriages, Jharkhand fared the worst among states’ list prepared by the Union Home Ministry with the percentage of girls getting married before attaining majority in the state remained as high as 5.8 in 2020.

“The percentage of females who got effectively married before reaching 18 years of age is 1.9 at the national level and varies from 0.0 in Kerala to 5.8 in Jharkhand,” the survey brought out by the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs. Despite being renowned for its mines reserves, child marriages accounted for 7.3 per cent of marriages in rural areas and three per cent in urban areas in the state, the latest demographic sample survey conducted by the Home Ministry said.

Jharkhand and West Bengal are the only two states in the country where more than half of the women are married before attaining the age of 21 years.

In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, over 3 per cent of women got married before 18 years. The average age of child brides was lowest in Telangana, at 15 years, and Rajasthan at 15.4 years.

“The percentage of females who got effectively married before reaching 18 years of age is 1.9 at the… national level and varies from 0.0 in Kerala to 5.8 in Jharkhand,” the survey said. On the other hand, in Jammu and Kashmir, less than 10 per cent of women got married before 21 in the year 2020. In Delhi this figure was around 17 per cent.

The Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report contains estimates of various demographic, fertility and mortality indicators based on the data collected through one of the largest demographic surveys in the world covering about 8.4 million sample population, according to PTI. The survey was conducted in 2020 and the report was published late last month.

The survey said that while 54.9 per cent of girls are married in West Bengal before attaining the age of 21 years, the figure for Jharkhand is 54.6 per cent as against the national average of 29.5 per cent. Meanwhile, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 32 people were killed on allegations of practising “witchcraft” in Jharkhand in 2015, 27 in 2016, 19 in 2017, 18 in 2018, and 15 each in 2019 and 2020, reported the PTI.

Some experts said the rise in child marriages came as a result of the coronavirus pandemic due to families facing uncertainty on the economic front, according to The Indian Express.

The Government has enacted the ‘Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006’ for prohibition of solemnisation of child marriages, reported News18. In a press release, the Centre said that it has started “awareness drives, media campaigns and outreach programmes and issued advisories to the States/ UTs from time to time to highlight the various issues about this evil practice.” – INDIA NEWS STREAM