Dist stops 42 child marriages in 3 months

Coimbatore: The district administration has managed to stop 42 child marriages in the past three months alone, compared to 11 in the first six months of this year.
During the complete lockdown, there were hardly any incidences of child marriage. Now that the government has relaxed the lockdown norms, such cases are on the rise.
A social welfare department official said, “The number of child marriages that we stopped in the past three months is really high. It is to be noted that only 53 child marriages were stopped in the entire 2019. Most of the cases were reported from areas such as Madukkarai, Sulur and Karamadai.”
The official said they had stopped 19 child marriages in August alone. In most of the cases, it was the victims’ decision to get married to take their love affair to the next level. In some cases, the official said, the victims were forced into the marriage by their parents. “Child marriages are taking place both in rural and urban areas. A lot depends on their family background and economic status.”
The social welfare department is, meanwhile, taking several steps to stop child marriages in the district. One measure is formation of a committee at the village level to create awareness among the public, and report and stop child marriages at the planning stages itself. The committee would have panchayat president, councillors, teachers, anganwadi workers and self-help group members as members.
“We have shot off letters to all block development officers in the district, asking them to form the committees at the village level. Several villages have already formed the committees and stopped child marriages,” the official said.
The official said they were also educating the public about the consequences of child marriage and the punishment the offence would attract under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, by distributing pamphlets and sticking posters at primary health centres and ration shops.
Officials said they were hopeful of bringing the number of child marriages down by creating awareness among the public.