Mandya sees uptick in child marriage cases in 2021-22

Mandya: The district, which has seen several progressive movements take off, is struggling to control the ever-rising number of child marriages.
In 2018-19, 17 child marriages were reported in Mandya and 29 were stopped. In 2021-22, 74 child marriages were reported and 70 were stopped after they were reported to authorities.
The graph of child marriages has risen bit by bit each passing year since 2018-19. In 2019-20, 30 child marriages were stopped while FIRs were registered in 28 cases. In 2020-21, 34 such marriages were held and 42 were stopped. The highest number of marriages were held in the year 2021-22.
In a recent incident, an SSLC student was married off before the examination. It came to light after she spoke to a friend about it.
“There is a need to form task forces and teams at the gram panchayat level to stop these kinds of marriages,” said C Kumari, the district general secretary of CITU.
Activists point out that the majority of marriages happen in the early hours of the day in temples in deserted areas on the outskirts of villages. According to the officials, awareness drives against child marriage were conducted in over 175 places. “The parents must think about the future of their kids,” an official said.
Child Rights Trust director Nagasimha G Rao said that there should be a socio-economic study on why child marriages are increasing in Mandya. “Mandya is a rich district. Women’s educational level is good here. The influence of mass media and progressive movements is good here. Still, the number of child marriages is increasing which is a good subject for a research study,” he said.