MALAPPURAM: A timely call to Childline by a gutsy girl prevented 10 child marriages scheduled to be solemnised later this week at the Karuvarakkundu panchayat on Monday.
Parents of two minor girls were making preparations for the weddings. Two of the children are 15 years old and the others 16 and study in different schools in the region. The marriages were scheduled to be held in the fourth and fifth wards of the panchayat.
“The girl called us and said her parents were forcing her to marry against her will. She said she would commit suicide if the marriage took place. She wanted to study and her parents did not allow it,” said Anwar Karakkadan, Childline coordinator, who helped prevent the marriages. He said parents of all the girls were not financially sound and were eager to marry them off as early as possible. They were afraid they would not get another proposal if they turned the first one down, he said.
Reports suggest that an alarming number of minor girls, some as young as 14 years of age are being married off in covert weddings in the district. Though statistics suggest a majority of them belong to the Muslim community, non-Muslims girls too fall prey to the scourge.
Childline reports suggest the minor girls are put at risk of suffering physical and mental breakdowns if they are married before attaining maturity.
“These weddings are commonplace in a district now known for taking big strides in educating girls. Though the number of girls in colleges and other higher education institutions has grown steadily, underage marriage is still a blot on the otherwise clean district,” said Geethanjali, a child marriage prohibition officer.