BENGALURU:On November 1, 2007, the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act (PCMA 2006) came into existence. More than a decade since then, complaints have been reaching the helplines of Bengaluru NGOs regarding child marriages happening in the city.
“On a weekly basis, we receive four to five calls of child marriages taking place within the city and in the outskirts. These include areas such as Banaswadi, Lingarajpuram, Whitefield, Kanakapura, Banashankari, etc. The demography in these areas comprises mostly migrants from lower-middle class backgrounds. The girls, in these cases, are usually 14 to 17 year olds, while the boys are in the17-20 age group,” said Nagasimha Rao, director of Child Rights Trust (CRT), which has partnered with UNICEF.
While Rao has observed the cases among low-income families, other NGOs find that child marriage are not restricted to this socio-economic group. In the last six months, APSA (Association for Promoting Social Action), another NGO, has received 18 complaints of child marriages in the city. Vishalakshi, a childline coordinator at APSA, said, "There are different kinds among urban communities that perform child marriages. It is not necessary that they are from a lower class or caste. In rural areas, they perform it for different reasons, such as unawareness of laws. In cities, we observed that parents are scared of their kids eloping or believe marriage of minors is part of their tradition."
“We get calls from places such as Anekal and Yelahanka, where the children are between 13 and 14 years of age,” Vishalakshi added.Nagamani, nodal coordinator of the childline at CRT, said they came across a case six months ago where a well to do family married off their minor girl child. “This is a classic example of the kind of cases we see in Bengaluru. This particular family was not poor. They have a good status in society and had political connections. Their defence was that getting the girl married off early was their community’s custom. This was despite being aware of the law,” Nagamani said.
“Less priority is given to educating girls in the city despite this being an urban and informed set-up. Some families are adamant on their traditions, and only when we rescue the girl, refuse to return her until the family promises to not marry off the child, do we manage to put some fear into them. We make these communities conduct awareness programmes in their area, and only then send the girl back home,” she added.
First counselling,then jail term, fine
The regular procedure, if officials or NGOs prevent a child marriage, is to take the child and the family to a child welfare committee and counsel them. If the parents, relatives and other members involved insist or try to commit the offence again, they are booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The punishment is up to two years in jail and a fine of `2 lakh.
Parents change venue, time to escape NGOs and cops
In cities like Bengaluru, Rao finds that people are aware of the laws that prohibit child marriage as well as the punishment for adults involved if caught. However they find ways to beat the system, he said. “Sometimes, when we get tipped-off about a marriage, the parents manage to find ways to escape the police and NGO workers. Once we and police officials reach the spot, we find that the venue and time of the muhurath have been changed. Parents have become extra wary of child protection officers, and try to get it done elsewhere. They do not realise that the marriage is void,” he said. The location is often shifted to the outskirts, in small temples. If caught, the families wait a while before conducting the marriage again. “We now inform the neighbours, pujaris, drum players and cooks at weddings to alert us if the family tries to marry their child off again,” Rao added.