Almost zero convictions in child marriage cases in Mysuru

Mysuru: Though Mysuru has been witnessing cases of child marriages, the conviction rate for the crime is almost zero. Child welfare officers claim that minor girls are “influenced” by relatives during court trials, witnesses turn hostile, and cases are lost on technical grounds. In some cases, where there is photo and video evidence available, the cases are yet to come for trial.
The major challenge child welfare officers face in child marriage cases, is lack of seriousness in treating the cases, and delay in responding to complaints on the part of the authorities.
According to child welfare officers, more than 250 child marriage cases were prevented and detected in Mysuru in the last one year. Officers in Periyapatna are active, and rapidly respond to any complaints, without waiting for help from the local police. Despite the fact that they have faced trouble, it has not deterred them from rescuing minor girls.
Child welfare officers in Periyapatna, who have the distinction of preventing cases of child marriage, have effectively stopped 32 child marriages in 2020 and 22 of them till July this year. Last year six FIRs were registered, and this year in the first seven months, four FIRs were registered against relatives and parents for conducting child marriages.
N Kumar, child development project officer (CDPO), Periyapatna, says that in a majority of child marriage cases, minor girls who do not have fathers are the victims. Their mothers want to do away with the responsibility of raising them, by marrying off their minor daughters. In some cases parents who are sick want to get their minor daughters married. Kumar says child marriages are high among a particular community in the region.
The CDPO of Periyapatna also blames the police for not responding to complaints regarding child marriage quickly, and accuses them of not treating the cases seriously. “I have brought this to the notice of higher-ups in the district in meetings,” he stated.
“In most child marriages, the bridegroom is 10-15 years older than the minor bride. We receive alerts on child marriages from child helpline number 1098, or through teachers or anganwadi workers,” he said. “Our efforts in rescuing minor girls is going waste due to the non-cooperation of some officials,” Kumar added.
District child protection officer S Diwakar admitted that convictions hae been almost zero in child marriage cases. Recently, we suffered a setback on technical grounds in a case, during cross-examination. We have discussed on how to overcome all these shortcomings. Still cooperation of the police is needed to punish the wrongdoers,” he felt.
Cases of child marriage are more in Periyapatna, Hunsur and HD Kote in the district, and officials in Periyapatna are actively working on them, Diwakar said.
Mysuru superintendent of police R Chethan said, “All our officers are instructed to be sensitive to cases related to children and women. The primary role of the police here is to first register an FIR and then investigate the case. So far, I have not come across any complaint of delay in responding to child marriage cases against police officers.”