VILLUPURAM: At least 30 child marriages were stopped in the combined districts of Villupuram and Kallakurichi since April, making it an average of one child marriage arranged every two days, said sources from the social welfare departments there.
According to an official statement, 17 child marriages in Kallakurichi were reported to the social welfare department in May. All reported marriages were stopped and the girls were rescued by officials.Speaking about the awareness measures taken, Kallakurichi Collector PN Sridhar said, “It is precisely because of the awareness raised by officials that so many cases were reported to the helpline here. Most of the informants were friends of the bride or relatives of the family. We had a rigorous campaign against child marriage and after that, many cases were reported and stopped.”
He added that a block-wise approach to spread awareness had proven effective instead of the district-level meetings. Public-interest advertisements about the child marriage helpline had even reached the children and they make calls to report child marriages to officials now. “Identities of the informants will be kept discreet,” Sridhar added.
Meanwhile, in Villupuram, 11 child marriages were reported, of which nine were stopped before the wedding, while two were already over. An FIR was filed for the two cases but no one has been arrested so far, official sources said.
V Ramesh Nathan, founder of Social Awareness Society for Youth, a human-rights NGO in Villupruam, said, “The roots of child discrimination and abuse lie in the very fabric in which the society is built—caste and patriarchy. These two factors are the roots of child marriage because, in most cases, the parents of the victims say they are worried about their children falling in love with someone outside their caste. It can be resolved if the parents trust their children and report any incidents to the police, instead of ruining their daughter’s lives.”