CHILD

MARRIAGE

ASSIGNMENT BY:

AKA KALUNG, LLB-1ST SEMESTER 2019-20

ARUNACHAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDIES
NAMSAI
 Table of Content

Sl.No. Chapter Page No.

1. Abstract 3

2. Introduction 4
3. Impact of Child Marriage 5
4. Scenario of Child Marriage 6
4. Laws to prevent Child Marriages 9
5. How to increase social awareness 10
regarding child marriage
6. Conclusion 11
CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA

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 ABSTRACT
Marriage is one of the important social institutions and it’s a
means of establishing a family through which the society
sustains. Thus process is expressed in the form of rituals and
symbols. In India 45 percent of girls are wedded before the age
of 18 years, and are likely to face domestic violence and get
pregnancy related problems causing maternity health issues
and death. According to a United Nations report, India has the
second highest number of child marriages.
The Indian Constitution provides enacted various awareness
measures and prohibitions against child marriage through
various laws and enactments.
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 INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS CHILD MARRIAGE, ITS CONCEPTS AND CAUSES
OF CHILD MARRIAGE

Child marriage as a concept can be defined as the formal or an

informal union between two individuals before attaining the age
of eighteen years. This institution should be seen as an abuse
of human rights since this is one form of a forced marriage. As
per the law in India, a child marriage is one in which the girl is
below the age of eighteen years and the boy is below the age
of twenty one years.

Child marriages have a history in India. They have existed from

the times of the Delhi Sultanate when the monarchy system
was prevalent. Indians also used child marriage as a weapon to
protect girls from rapes and abduction by foreign rulers.
Another social reason to initiate child marriages was that the
elders wanted to see the faces of the grand children.

Child marriages often occurred throughout history and are still

prevailing due to variety of reasons including:

 Poverty
 Insecurity
 Political and financial reasons
CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA

 Lack of education
 Patriarchy and gender inequalities
 Inadequate implementation of the law

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 IMPACT OF CHILD MARRIAGE

Once married, the girl child is forced to leave her home and
inhabit another place altogether wherein she is forced to take
up roles that she isn’t mentally prepared for. Huge
responsibilities like that of mother and a daughter-in-law that
are too much for a minor girl. It eventually leads to isolation
and depression. For the male, taking up a responsibility is as
critical as that of wife as becoming a father in such age.

Childhood is lost and the freedom to play and learn is also

snatched in the process. Early marriages also carry with them
excessive risk factors as the girls who marry early are less likely
to be updated about pregnancy and related subjects. Infants
born to such mothers are more likely to suffer from
malnutrition, low birth weights.
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 SCENARIO OF CHILD MARRIAGE

FIGURE-1

According to a UNICEF report, in India there were more child

marriages in rural areas than urban. Bihar has the highest
incidence of child marriage at 68 per cent while Himachal
CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA

Pradesh with around nine per cent has the lowest incidence as
per the report.

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 Reports on Child Marriages through research and media:

https://thenortheasttoday.com

The prevalence of child marriage in India is the highest

amongst Scheduled Tribe girls (15 per cent) followed by
Scheduled Castes (13 per cent), according to a report prepared
by Young Lives India, a research centre, in collaboration with
the NCPCR report released by the National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA

West Bengal has the highest rate of child marriage amongst SC

girls, while in Arunachal Pradesh it is highest among Scheduled
Tribes. Bihar, Gujarat and Telangana report very high

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 prevalence of child marriages amongst OBC girls below the age
of 18.

(https://www.dnaindia.com)

Though the incidence of child and forced marriage of girls has

come down in Arunachal Pradesh. The maximum cases of child
and forced marriages were reported in the Kurung Kumey and
East Kameng districts, as stated by Gumri Ringu, Chairperson,
State Commission for Women. The commission has settled 118
cases between September 2011 and July 17 of this year, most
of them related to child and forced marriage, polygamy and
domestic violence.
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 LAWS TO PREVENT CHILD MARRIAGES IN INDIA

The Indian Constitution provides for prohibitions against child

marriage through various laws and enactments. The first law
that was designed was the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929
which extended to the whole of India except Jammu and
Kashmir. This act defines the ages of an adult male and female.

If there is a marriage taking place between a boy who is aged

between eighteen to twenty one years and a girl below the age
of eighteen years, it implies an imprisonment up to fifteen days
along with a fine of one thousand rupees. The act was again
amended in the year 1940 to rise the ages of male and female
children.

Another law that exists is the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,

2006. This act addressed the flaws contained in the child
Marriage Restraint Act. Thus, this act was meant to strictly
prohibit the marriage rather than merely restricting it. Under
this law, the children have the choice to declare their marriage
as void up to two years of reaching adulthood.

But, this law does not extend to the Muslims which is a major
CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA

shortcoming of the law as this law is binding to all citizens of

India

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 HOW TO INCREASE SOCIAL AWARENESS REGARDING
CHILD MARRIAGE

Children need to be made aware of their human rights and

must be taught to refuse and speak up once such an incident is
taking place or is about to take place. The media also needs to
adopt a more proactive role in generating awareness towards
this heinous ritual. A popular mainstream show like “Balika
Vadhu” was definitely a step in the right direction. Proper
media sensitization is required for a major change to take
place.

While on one hand, it is stated that child marriage will still take
nearly fifty years to be eradicated, genuine efforts, strict
enforcements of the legal provisions and change the scenarios
to a great extent. Child marriage has been declining at a rate of
one per cent per year in the last two decades but this pace is
slow.
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 CONCLUSION

Elimination of early marriage is a clear starting point. Thus

challenging the traditions that surround early marriage and
creating social awareness to parents, community members, and
youth about the negative consequences of early marriage.

There has to be a training for health and community workers

on the dangers of early marriage, strengthen and establish
community networks and partnerships involving girls clubs,
teachers, elders, local government officials, women and youth
groups, community and religious leaders, etc., that jointly work
towards ending early marriage.

An also strengthen the role of the judicial system particularly

the police, judges and persecutors through training on
enforcement of the law against early marriage.

Finally, all efforts should aim at change the gender biased

attitudes of parents and society by imparting proper education
on one hand and eradicating poverty on the
other.

References:
 Research Gate.net
 The NorthEast Times
 DnaIndia.com
 Indiatoday.in
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