KOZHIKODE: Thasniya Ali (name changed) of Malappuram district in northern Kerala was married to a 25-year-old man two years ago. She was just 16. Her family wanted to escape the economic burden of raising children. Almost one year after their wedding, she gave birth to a girl child.
It was after the birth of the child the couple had known about the legal issues regarding their marriage. They could not register their marriage yet. “Since I married at an early age, early child-delivery was inevitable. As a result, I now have severe back problems. I used to weep a lot and consequently, I faced problems with my eyes and had to undergo an eye operation. I often think that if I had the power to think like I do now, I would never go to that house,” she said.
In yet another incident, 15-year-old Rema (name changed), a tribal girl in Rural Kozhikode, had run away from husband’s home because her stepmother harassed her. Rema could not complete her school education.
In India’s most literate state, on an average, close to 600 child marriages are taking place in Kerala every year, according to records accessed by The Sunday Standard from the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). And the numbers are going up—2,740 child marriages have been reported, and another 545 attempts of child marriage have been prevented by the Social Justice Department since 2010.
The practice appears widespread among the Muslim community. Of the total 2,740 cases, 2,338 incidents concern Muslims. The rest come from among certain Hindu and tribal communities. Meanwhile, only one incident of child marriage has been reported from the Christian community.
Malappuram district tops the list while Palakkad is a distant second with 378 under-age marriages. Social Justice Department Director V N Jithendran said the practice is common among certain areas in the state despite strong efforts being undertaken by the district administrations. “The only way to prevent child marriage is make the public aware on the matter and the department is on this path,” he said.