KOZHIKODE:The State Child Rights Commission (SCRC) on Thursday issued notice to the Social Justice Department seeking a detailed report on incidents of child marriages in the state.
‘Express’ had published a report on the spurt in number of child marriage in the state in the recent years. In the notice served to the director of Social Justice department V N Jithendran, the Commission expressed concern over the issue and its displeasure over the department’s intervention to eradicate the malpractice effectively.
The Commission also observed that if the contents of the report were true, there were serious lapses on the side of officials with the Social Justice Department in taking legal action against wrongdoers.
Naseer Chaliyam, SCRC acting chairman, said it has sought a report on the issue from the director of Social Justice Department.
“We asked the department to submit a comprehensive report with incidents of child marriages reported so far, which include the total number of child marriages, number of prevented cases, initiatives being taken by the department to end this tend, number of cases registered, among others” he said.
“The report should be submitted within 15 days and further steps will be taken after studying the report. The Commission will also examine whether there were lapses on the part of the concerned officials in handling the issue. Legal steps will be taken against such officers after getting the report,” Naseer further said. As many as 2,740 child marriages were held in the state in the past five years.