Too young to get hitched – Child Marriages in India
“I was forced to get married at the age of 14 with my maternal uncle just because my all the sisters were married early and I was all left alone,” said, Shazia Anwar, 22.
Like Shazia there are uncountable girls in India who are forced to marry in their toddler age which is an illegal practice banned by Indian court. According to the latest report given by IndiaSpend analysis revealed that nearly 12 million Indian children were married before the age of 10 years in which 84% of them are Hindu’s and 11% are Muslims.
The legal age to get married in India is 18 for girls and 21 for boys as enacted by the women Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) of 2006.
Another girl who was married to the elder brother n law of Shazia said, “I never wanted to get married as I was a very bright student and good in studies but due to not so good financial status of my family, I was asked to leave studies in seventh standard and get married with my neighbor who was around 30 at that time”
India is one of the most popular country for child marriages. Most of the estimates given by United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) suggest that 47 % of girls get married before their 18th birthday ranging from states to states as the highest child bride ratio is in Bihar with 69% followed by Rajasthan with 65%.
Said to be an developing country, the thinking also varies from rural to urban societies as people living in metro cities or in civilized societies prefer to educate their daughter more than getting married while people living in villages and rural areas still have that orthodox mindset where they consider girl as an economic burden and try to relieve it as soon as possible.
According to World Health organization, the girls who get married before 18 suffers from more health problems like they have a high risk in conceiving baby and high chance of a infant to die as considered to the women who give birth to a child after 20.
“The mentality of people can be only changed once they become educated. It’s necessary to do a survey in each and every village and give them proper classes to avoid child marriages and educate their children for their better and safe future,” said, Anudati, working for child care NGO. WTN
