RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: In a span of just 50 days from April 1, the Childline helpline (1098), jointly with the officials of the Women Development and Child Welfare Department and police successfully prevented 31 child marriages in the East Godavari district.
Officials have noted that the incidents of child marriages were high in Rajamahendravaram, Gokavaram, Sitanagaram, Rajanagaram and Korukonda blocks. The administration has been conducting campaigns against child marriages with a focus on these areas and has formed teams at the village, block, division and district levels. While police officers explain the legal implications of child marriages to the parents, doctors enlighten them on how early marriage and pregnancy could take a toll on the health of the mother and the child.
Explaining how aged grooms from other districts lure parents of young girls, Childline helpline coordinator B Srinivasa Rao told The New Indian Express that interested parties approach women matchmakers in and around Rajamahendravaram and offer them Rs 2 to 3 lakh for finding a suitable girl from the same caste. “Poor parents are lured with attractive money and so they agree to get their minor daughters married off, who might just have attained puberty. Sometimes, the grooms are double the age of the brides,’’ he noted.
Rao added that often the minor girls are forced to do household chores and farm work after marriage. The official pointed out that during the wedding season, parents get their minor children married at temples to escape the law. “Whenever we stop a child marriage, the officials of the Women and Child Welfare Department and police counsel the parents, bride and groom,’’ he said.