The Hindu : 3,000 child marriages in Chhatisgarh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2002

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3,000 child marriages in Chhatisgarh

By Aarti Dhar

A child bride being readied for the wedding in a village in Kawardha in Chhatisgarh.

RAIPUR APRIL 23. In keeping with the age-old tradition, over 3,000 child marriages are reported to have been performed in 1,021 villages of Baiga and Marrar tribe-dominated Kawardha district of Chhatisgarh on `Ramnavami' last Sunday. One hundred and twenty-seven child marriages were reported from six villages on that day.

The District Collector, K.S. Kehari, said he had no information but the matter would be looked into. According to him, reports of some child marriages came to him on March 24 following which he had asked the gram panchayats and zilla panchayats to ensure that no child marriage was conducted as it was against the law and even violation of the rights of the child. He said pamphlets were distributed among the villages as part of an awareness campaign.

The huge number of child marriages was brought to light by a human rights organisation, Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy (FFDA) that visited six villages on Sunday, while they were being solemnised. The children were in the age group of 4 to 13 years and many did not even know the name of their spouses or what exactly was meant by marriage. Since the literacy rate among men is just 30 per cent and women and children largely unlettered, distribution of pamphlets would not have served the purpose anyway.

According to Subhash Chandra Mohapatra, project executive of FFDA, the forum conducted a survey of villages in Kawardha district from March 7 and April 22. On March 17 and 18 five villages — Bhaisadbara, Chaindad, Kamthi, Taliapani and Bodoura — saw 67 child marriages take place. The survey was extended to 11 more villages dominated by the primitive Baiga and Marrar tribes where 223 cases came to light.

The highest number was reported in Pandaria block, where 127 child marriages were solemnised in 287 villages. ``Going by an average of 20 marriages a village, the number goes up to about 5,000 in the entire district. We have claimed only 3,000 such marriages,'' Mr. Mohapatra said.

Grooms at a wedding.

In an taperecorded statement, the Collector said that he had no information about the marriages. ``The Chhatisgarh Government is committed to checking such violation of child rights.'' However, the villagers had a different story to tell. They alleged that the sarpanches had sent prior information to the Collector about the proposed marriages but no action was taken. Even after March 24, when policemen went to the villages to tell the people that child marriage was illegal, they took money and asked the villagers to go ahead with their customs.

Mr. Mohapatra said that child marriages had played havoc with the women's mortality rate in these villages. Women hardly survived until the age of 40. The members of the fact-finding team could spot very few women aged more than 40 years. ``The girls are sent to their in-laws' house as soon as they attain puberty, following which they conceive at the age of 12 or 13. The child mortality rate is high and women often die of various diseases.''

India is a signatory to the Child Right Convention of the United Nations and the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, prevents the marriage of a boy before the age of 21 and that of a girl before 18. The next day considered auspicious for marriages is May 15, when again a large number of nuptial knots will be tied.

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