HYDERABAD: An 11-year-old girl studying in Class 5 accepted her fate when her parents arranged her marriage to a 25-year-old man in July this year. With more mouths to feed than hands to earn, Gazal (name changed) and her two younger brothers often used to go to bed hungry as her parents are daily wage labourers.
Thankfully, a person she knew had attended the child rights awareness program organised by an organisation affiliated with the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and reported Gazal’s situation. Upon verifying the information, the foundation, along with the district child protection unit and the police, counselled Gazal’s mother and brought the case to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). As per the CWC’s order, Gazal was placed in a government shelter home for children to ensure her safety and provide a better future.
As per the latest fact sheet provided by the foundation, during the last three years, there has been a continuous increase in the number of child marriages in Telangana, from 35 in 2019 to 57 in 2021. Commemorating the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, celebrated each year on October 11, several foundations in India have taken up the issue launching a nationwide child marriage-free India campaign last year.
As part of the campaign, eight districts in Telangana unveiled a book titled “When Children Have Children: Tipping Point to End Child Marriage” which puts forth ideas, a framework, and an action plan to eliminate child marriage. The book was released by child marriage survivors and dignitaries from law enforcement agencies and civil society organisations.
Eight districts in Telangana with high child marriage rates are Khammam, Hyderabad, Kamareddy, Mahabubabad, Medak, Nagarkurnool, Sangareddy and Wanaparthy. According to the 2011 Census, in Telangana, approximately 2.8 lakh children were married before reaching the legal marriage age, constituting around 2 per cent of all married children in the country.
However, data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that only 154 cases of child marriage were officially registered in the state under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act between 2019 and 2021. The National Family Health Survey-V (NFHS 2019-21) further reports that 23.5 percent of women in Telangana, aged 20-24, were married before turning 18. Teenage pregnancy, which is primarily a consequence of child marriage, has come down from 7.9 per cent in 2015-16 to 6.8 per cent in 2019-21 at the all-India level. The corresponding decrease in Telangana has been from 10.6 per cent to 5.8 per cent.
India has made strong progress by reducing child marriage by more than 50 per cent since 2006 to the current rate of 23.3 per cent. However, the situation still looks grim and challenging. As per the UNICEF estimates, if the progress continues at the current rate, millions more girls across India will be forced into child marriages until at least 2050. The book suggests that it is possible to reduce the national child marriage prevalence levels to 5.5 per cent by 2030-the threshold beyond which the prevalence is expected to diminish with less reliance on targeted interventions.
“What is needed is an urgency with a resolve to say ‘no more.’ A child sold, raped and lost to maternal death, is a child too many,” said Bhuwan Ribhu, a child rights activist and son of Kailash Satyarthi, in the book.
India has made significant strides in reducing child marriage, with a reduction of over 50 per cent since 2006, bringing the current rate down to 23.3 per cent. However, the challenges persist, and UNICEF estimates indicate that if the current progress continues, millions more girls in India will still be forced into child marriages until at least 2050.
The book also suggests that it is possible to further reduce the national child marriage prevalence to 5.5 per cent by 2030, a threshold beyond which prevalence is expected to decrease with less reliance on targeted interventions. Bhuwan Ribhu emphasises the urgency and the need to say “no more” to the tragic consequences of child marriage, such as child exploitation and rape, as even one such case is one too many.
Another example
“Will you please help me? My friend is getting married and I don’t know how to help her. Please save her,” Anima (name changed), aged not above 14, tugged at the hand of an NGO member. The team from Society For Integrated Rural Development, a partner NGO of Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, was on one of their visits to a government school in Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh to spread awareness about the perils of child marriage among the students.
Anima shared that Sangeetha, a Class 8 student, was set to marry a 20-year-old distant relative later that month. With limited information, the team approached an Anganwadi worker who provided more details. The matter was then taken up with the Mahila police and the Society For Integrated Rural Development (SFIRD).
When they visited Sangeetha’s residence, she had been temporarily relocated to a relative’s house, but the wedding was still planned. Sangeetha’s parents, who operated a mobile tiffin cart, had agreed to the marriage proposal, thinking it was a good idea as there was no dowry involved. They signed an undertaking to delay the marriage until Sangeetha turned 18 and assured them that her education would resume.