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SC notice to Centre, 10 States on child marriage

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI MAY 6. The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and 10 States on a public interest litigation to prevent the widespread practice of child marriages leading to girl child servitude and child sexual abuse and rape by the boy's household.

A three-Judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, issued notice on a petition from the Forum for Fact Finding Documentation and Advocacy, Raipur, Chhattisgarh complaining about the prevalence of child marriages.

The 10 States to whom notice was issued are: Chhattisgarh; Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

The petitioner submitted that though pioneering work against child marriage was done by reform movements such as Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj and by individuals such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Raja Rammohan Roy, Behramji Malbari and Harvilas Sharda, now India was witnessing an emergence of this evil practice with large-scale child marriages being performed on auspicious occasions in many States.

It said the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 was being totally violated and the illegal practice was continuing unabated. The effect of such marriage on the girl child was particularly harsh, as sexual abuse and rape was common. Hence the petition.

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