The ritual of child marriages is very common in Indian society , even though a large number of efforts have been made to eradicate or reduce this still somebody or the other is facer of child marriage. Under Indian Law if a woman is below the age of eighteen and the man is below age of twenty one is a child marriage. Usual cases of child marriage involve the marriage of girls with elder men usually due to poor socio economic conditions. Some parents agree to child marriage for a variety of reasons, including financial necessity, male protection for their daughters, childbearing, or repressive traditional customs and traditions.
A child is defined as “a person who, if a male, has not reached twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age” under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006 [1] This act also stipulates that any marriage performed between minors under the age of majority is void. The rule also lays forth penalties for authorising or conducting child weddings between minors, as well as marrying minors with adults. Despite this, child marriage is still common . The average age of marriage for girls in states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh is still below the legal age of eighteen. On the other hand there are states which have introduced incentives to reduce such practices for instance the state of Haryana introduced the so-called Apni Beti, Apna Dhan program in 1994, which translates to “My daughter, My wealth”. It is a conditional cash transfer program dedicated to delaying young marriages by providing a government [2]
Maternal and infant health are directly affected by early marriage, pregnancies, and parenthood. Adolescent moms who are malnourished as children grow up to be malnourished women, who in turn have malnourished children.
However , There has been some good news in the last 15 years, as India has begun to realise the benefits of its efforts to end child marriage. While legality is vital, it has not shown to be sufficient in reducing the incidence of child marriages. Unfortunately, the law has been exploited in the past to criminalise and discourage young people from exercising choice, notably by disapproving parents. Despite the girl’s permission, the male partner of her choosing is treated as a criminal and the girl is imprisoned.
Finally , the child marriages in India can be stopped by looking for durable answers and providing the girls with greater attention and greater work opportunities so that they could build a great lifestyle for themselves on their own without depending on marriage for a healthy life.
Footnotes- [1] https://www.childlineindia.org/a/issues/child-marriage [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_India
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