Child Marriages in Maharashtra increased, 138 cases reported post June

Mumbai: Coronavirus induced lockdown has adversely impacted lives globally, especially the lives of young girls in Maharashtra. The lockdown has brought surge in centuries-old practice of child marriage, which was first outlawed in India in 1929. Along with the economic crisis resulting in unemployment for millions, rural Maharashtra is witnessing injustice to young girls.

The child marriage has never been an age old Phenomenon as now and then the cases are reported across the country. Child Marriage was declared illegal under the provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006. Until June, only 76 cases had been identified, but in the following three months 138 such cases were reported.

The State Woman and Child Development (WCD) ministry’s data depict that it has rescued around 214 girls, who were victims of child marriage between January to September 2020. Last year for same period 120 cases were reported, this year it increased twice of it. Moreover, FIRs have been registered in 28 other cases in which the incidents came to light after the weddings had been solemnized. However, activists believe there are many such incidents which are gone unreported. The highest number of cases has been registered from rural Maharashtra, in the districts of Beed, Jalna, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Latur, Buldana, Dhule, Jalgaon Solapur, Kolhapur and Sangli, among others.

According to officials, the reason behind the rise in child marriage is return of migrants villages. Due to which more eligible grooms are available. “Since the outbreak of the pandemic and the nationwide lockdown, we have managed to prevent more than 214 child marriages, while more than 28 FIRs were lodged across the state,” said WCD Commissioner Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashoda

Until June 76 cases were registered after which it raised to 138 in the following three months. The numbers increased as the government allowed marriages with 50 people to be in attendance at weddings, which made the ceremony extremely economical for poor farmers. Now the pan-India NGO, Save the Children, published a study which claimed that Covid-19 would globally put 2.5 million more girls at risk of early marriage by 2025.

According to the official, the surge in child marriage is due to a host of factors, including the lockdown, and the resultant closure of schools, the impact on the rural economy and lack of financial security and uncertainty over livelihood, which has pushed many into poverty.