CHENNAI: The Covid-induced lockdown has resulted in a spike in child marriages across the State, upending the dreams of many young girls. Child protection officials in the State say they receive at least twice the number of distress calls than usual from girls seeking rescue from marriages.
The officials say the number of distress calls and child-marriages they were able to track and stop are indicators of a worrying trend during this prolonged lockdown. The victims are mostly girls from economically or socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
Vacating children’s homes
Tamil Nadu has over 80,000 children in about 1,600 homes, which is the highest in the country followed by Kerala. The homes not only shelter orphans but also children from single parent homes and economically backward families. The National Commission of Protection of Child Rights in mid 2020 ordered to send institutionalised children back home. While the order was aimed to protect the children’s rights to stay with families, this might have contributed to the child marriages, sources said.
A police officer attached to the all-women wing in Tindivanam district said: “A Class-X student who was about to be married off to a 28-year-old man was rescued a few months ago. Later, we learnt that she was in a children’s home in Villupuram and that her parents decided to get her married off because they could not provide for her and thought a well-earning man would take care of her. “We are currently collecting reports of children who left the institutions,” said an official.
Parental problems
N Lalitha, an advocate in the Madras High Court, spoke about a 16-year-old girl who dropped out of school due to the pandemic. She was in love with her distant relative. “Her parents, who are day labourers, did not want their daughter to marry the relative, whom they considered a ‘spoilt child’. Instead of talking to their daughter, they decided to marry her off to another man. The marriage was stopped,” says N Lalitha.
Lailtha added that parents tend to not have mature conversations with children, which is needed especially during lockdown when everyone is together. In an era of social media, especially as minor children spend more time on smartphones for online classes, they find solace in strangers and this allows predators to brainwash girls.
“Recently a girl had fallen in love with a man she found on social media. The duo eloped and the girl was found to be pregnant when she was rescued. The man was arrested under the POCSO Act. If the parents were open enough to understand her feelings, this incident would have been thwarted,” added Lalitha
Economic conditions
Andrew Sesuraj, State Convener, Tamil Nadu Child Rights Watch, said unemployment in families have pushed a lot of people to get their children married off. “Most parents who work in unorganised sectors lost their jobs. They look for a prospective match to get their daughters married off. They feel satisfied that their duty is over and happy that their daughter will not go hungry. But, they do not think about possibilities like abuse, depression, and torture,” said Andrew.
Since marriages became low-key affairs during the pandemic, many from low-income families married their children off to escape the expenses of a normal wedding. District Child Protection Officer (Chennai) A T Ramesh Karthik said several clinics and doctors performed deliveries of pregnant minor girls without informing authorities. “It is vital that NGOs and government spread awareness to avoid child marriages,” he added..
A dubious distinction
Tamil Nadu has over 80,000 children in about 1,600 homes, which is the highest in the country. The homes shelter orphans, children from single parent homes, and poor families