CHILD MARRIAGE: SCENARIO IN INDIA

Author(s): B. Pramila
Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , 2013, Vol. 74 (2013), pp. 998-1008
Published by: Indian History Congress

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 CHILD MARRIAGE: SCENARIO IN INDIA
B. Pramila

Introduction

Child marriage is a major social concern and a violation of children's

rights, whether it happens to a girl or a boy as denies the basic right to
health, nutrition, education, freedom from violence, abuse and
exploitation, and deprives the child of his or her childhood. But, the
impact on the lives of the girls is more serious than that of boys. As
far as the girl children are concerned this is one of the basic human
right violations, which paves way for many other social evils against
them.

This looks at statistics on child marriage and discusses the present

scenario in India, with special reference to the situation in Tami Nadu.
It also examines the factors responsible for this social evil, its
consequences, the measures taken to prevent and eradicate it, and finally
provides suggestions to end this practice.
The major sources for this paper are mainly the primary sources,
like the UNICEF reports, reports of the International Centre for
Research on Women, World Health Organization reports, government
of India reports, districts surveys, news papers like the Hindu , surveys
undertaken by various agencies, personal interviews, etc.

Statistics at the Global Level

"Premature pregnancy and motherhood are an inevitable consequence

of child marriage. Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die
during pregnancy and childbirth than women in their twenties." Notes
the UNICEF Publication State of the World's Children 2007. 1 UNICEF
defines child marriage as marriage before 1 8 years of age and considers
this practice as a violation of human rights. Child marriage denies a
girl of her childhood, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities,
increases her risk to be a victim of violence and jeopardizes her health.
"It constitutes an obstacle to the achievement of nearly every
Millennium Development Goal and the development of healthy
communities," said Stenhammer, Regional Programme Director of UN
Women.2

Child Marriage is outlawed in many developing countries and a

series of international agreements and covenants also forbid the
practice. Despite a global consensus, the practice continues because
of insufficient resources, lax enforcement of laws and ingrained cultural

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 Contemporary History of India 999

traditions. At the international level, the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights (1948) recognizes the right to "free and full" consent to
marriage and determines that this standard is not met when a person is
not mature enough to make an informed decision.3 Table 1 provides
the information on the minimum legal age of marriage for girls and the
percentage of girls married younger than 18:

TABLE 1

Minimum Legal Age of Marriage for Girls in 20 Countries with

the Highest Rates of Child Marriage4
Ranking Country Minimum legal Percent Married
age of marriage Younger Than 18
for girls
1 Niger 15 76^6
2 Chad 15 71.5

3 Bangladesh 18 68.7
4 Mali 18 65.4

5 Guinea 17 64.5

6 Central African Republic 18 57.0

7 Nepal 18 56.1
8 Mozambique 18 55.9
9 Uganda 18 54.1
10 Burkina Faso 19 51.9

11 India 18 50.0

12 Ethiopia 18 49.1
13 Liberia 15 48.4

14 Yemen 15 48.4

15 Cameroon 15 47.2

16 Eritrea 18 47.0

17 Malawi 18 46.9

18 Nicaragua 18 43.3
19 Nigeria Not Available 43.3
20 Zambia No Minimum 42.1

Source: Internationa I Centre for Research on Wo

ICRW Report (2006) Analysis of Demographi
data, 2005-2006.

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1000 It IC: Proceedings, 74th Session, 2013
CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA

In India, as per the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006) the

minimum legal age for marriage of girls and boys has been fixed
1 8 and 2 1 respectively.5 However, the prevalence of child marri
is evident from the information given in Table 2.6

TABLE 2

INCIDENCE OF EARLY MARRIAGE IN INDIA, 2006

SI. India/States Percentage Women 20-24 years
No. married before 18 Years (2006)

INDIA 44.5 52.5 28.1

1 Andhra Pradesh 54.7 61.4 41.2

2 Arunachal Pradesh 40.6 39.8 42.5

3 Assam 38.0 41.3 23.3

4 Bihar 60.3 65.2 37.3

5 Chhattisgarh 51.8 60.3 25.4

6 Delhi 21.2 41.1 61.6

7 Goa 11.7 7.8 14.6

8 Gujarat 33.5 37.9 27.3

9 Haryana 39.8 42.8 33.3
10 Himachal Pradesh 12.3 12.2 13.6

11 Jammu & Kashmir 14.0 17.1 4.9

12 Jharkhand 61.2 71.0 33.6

13 Karnataka 41.2 49.4 28.0

14 Kerala 15.4 19.4 9.2

15 Madhya Pradesh 53.0 62.0 31.1

16 Maharashtra 38.8 48.9 28.9

17 Manipur 12.7 13.2 11.7

18 Meghalaya 24.5 28.1 15.6
19 Mizoram 20.6 25.0 16.9

20 Nagaland 21.1 23.7 14.6

21 Orissa 36.3 38.7 24.3

22 Punjab 19.4 20.4 17.7

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 Contemporary History of índia 1 00 1

23 Rajasthan 57.1 65.7 35.8

24 Sikkim 30.1 34.5 15.9
25 Tamil Nadu 21.5 26.1 17.2

26 Tripura 41.0 41.7 37.8

27 Uttar Pradesh 53.0 61.1 30.0
28 Uttarakhand 22.6 24.7 16.3

29 West Bengal 53.3 62.6 31.5

UNION TERRITORIES

30 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 74

3 1 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 19

32 Daman & Diu 18

33 Lakshadweep 4
34 Pondicherry 112
Source: The State of the World
As per the National Crime R
available for the period ending
under Prohibition of Child Mar
2010 and 201 1 are 3, 60 and 1 1
the cases of child marriages w
because according to the mos
06), it is estimated that aroun
group of 18-29 are married b
estimated that there are 23
approximately 40% of the child
marriage reportedly dropped to
marriage prevalence still excee
found in Bihar (64%), Rajasth
Pradesh (53%), Uttar Prades
Pradesh (56%) and West Bengal
India as compared to urban are
respectively.8
The following graph shows t
incidences of child marriage in
list are Bihar, Rajasthan, Jha
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Prad

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1002 ¡HC: Proceedings , 74th Session, 2013

State-Level Statistics on Percentage of women (age 20-24)

married before the legal age of marriage

-, . - ^ - ß'>
,i -ģ"' 4 - rv.ł* ?>*«•>. r
Bihar ^ maļSm < fe#
Rajasthan <P- ^ MMMMMMOļPBMM
Jharkhand j^'IIMil^irililil lir 1 1 ■ II ljlMIM^BW
Uttar Pradesh1 ļ*®*®®*11 i " t|twì Tiriii^niHn^H
West Bengal , Œa 54-"j
Madhya Pradesh ^^M*SB*#öl#MUIÄiÄa
Andra Pradesh 1***^<fiKBÄ8|*«awö ¡aa
Kamataka BMHHHBBWHi J>Q.2
Dadta and Nagar Haveli j1M**8*<SQHi6Ä<aBaeBejBK*^ÄBB» ř
Chhatisgarh ;iģwMwnMTniT7»Mmh"T^ ^■■rrwrMW-nw
Tripura ] y njfTM-aiAii ■rw»- TTífcryTTinwnfW^^ 43
Maharashtra " iBaMaBBfcaeaHB¿ieH»»»BHMSei 40
Assam " i iňa«iyní8imm «■anaij 40

Gierat 'amili- W

^ Meghalaya ^ l ■■ 34.31 * Ą
* Silćkim" 30.6

. Arunachal Pradesh ¿ IMM

' ' Mwl^ 24-: 1 ^ :V¿$ J%Ů
;0Andaman
JamenUiandKáshnSř
and Nicobar ; ;1124.5
24.ťj j^ ^ ' -V ^
»Delhi' 'iwÊtmtmmmmKifm 24 2¡ ļ ' 1 -Í
- Tamil Nadu . * 24 | ' ' / r w
Mlzoram ^ 1 WWWM|WBMWb|m 23.7 ł J ' ••• ' 7>'v . ^ '
Daman and DhJ, ^ ■»■■■IB»*** 22.1 , ; • 'V-
" Chandigarh * ,21.8 , * ' Is* • * £$3
Uttąrakharicf |19.7 • : *
■« J ¡^SSZTíř 4'1' ' •' "' i-'" ' ;
^ .'» L ,.CL -j a • T "* ' f ' * ,
- w„ .Punjab, .'» L iWKĘmm pHWt.15J5 ^ • , r,? -• , ,, ^ ^ ; V-t
mwãmi$m - w„ .Punjab, !SíP#iiímíííí^ÍÍ®IS iWKĘmm pHWt.15J5 ^ , r,? -• ,, ^ ^ ; V-t

Source: District Level Household & Facility Survey- 3 (DLHS 3),

2007-2008

According to UNICEF 's State of the World's Children-2009 Repo

for 2009, 47% of India's women aged 20-24 were married before t
legal age of 1 8, rising to 56% in rural areas.10 The report also sho

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 Contemporary History of India 1 003

that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India.11 Situation in

Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, child marriage, which is believed to have been

abolished, is in practice even today in most of the villages. In the villages
of Krishnagiri district, like Sigaralampalli and Thirtham, girls of thirteen
years and even below that age are given in marriage. Villages such a
Kottaiy ur Kollai, an interior hamlet in the Aiyyur forest range in Krishnagiri
district contribute substantially to this number. It is an economically and
socially backward village and inhabited by Poojari Irula tribal people, who
were shifted to government-built group houses there from the remote fore
caves in 2003. 12 Most middle-aged women here said they were marrie
off when they were four or five years old. Their marriage with a relativ
was usually decided as soon as they were born. Many women in this
village have delivered 10 to 12 children. M. Muthamma is just 20 and has
five surviving children. She was married at 10. Mallamma Malli is only a
year older to Muthamma and has eight children, having married at the ag
of eight. Mallamma is also 20 and has six children; she was married at age
of 1 2 years.13 The problem here is the parents and the relatives of both th
girls and the boys give bogus birth certificates, if they are asked to produc
these. Moreover, in villages, they hardly register the marriages, which ar
normally conducted in the temples.
Setting for a child wedding is a common event in many villages of
Virudhunagar District. A marriage between a 17-year-old girl and a 22
year-old boy, scheduled to be solemnized at a village near Perambalur on
September 12, was prevented. Again, the proposed wedding between
15-year-old girl from Nadupatti in Omalur taluk and a 25-year-old bo
from Ammapet in Salem district was prevented on September 1 6. 14 A tot
of 230 child marriages had been stopped in the Perambalur district since
June 2011. The marriage of two girls, Sudha and Prema (both aged 17
was to be solemnized at the residences of bridegrooms in Perambalur and
Kunnam respectively. While Sudha was pursuing Plus Two, Prema was
student of class Xl. K. Petchiammal, District Social Welfare Officer an
Darez Ahmed, the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer ordered the stoppag
of marriages after visiting the brides' houses and rescued the children
Darez Ahmed said the children were aged below 1 8 and the marriage
illegal as per the provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.1
S.L. Sathiya Nesan, Director of Child Line 1098 in Namakkal district
reported to The Hindu that inspite of the strenuous efforts taken to eradicat
this social evil child marriages are prevalent across the district.16
The Fact Sheet of the DLHS - 3 Report 2007-2008 provides the Data
that the percentage of boys married before the age of 2 1 in the State as 4.
(in the rural 5.8 % and in the urban 3.4 %), while that of girls as 9. 1 in the

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1004 I HC: Proceedings , 74th Session, 2013

State (in the rural 1 1 .0 % and in the urban 6.2 %). Currently married women
(age 20-24) who were married before age 1 8 was 24.0 percentage in the
State, among this 25.5 percentage in the rural and 21.4 percentage in the
urban, and the women who gave birth between the age of 1 5 and 1 9 are 3.2
percentage in the State.17

Factors Responsible for Child Marriage

* Child Marriage is associated with lower levels of schooling for girls
in eveiy region of the world and isa barrier to international development
goals. The education, a girl receives is the strongest predictor of the
age she will marry, according to ICRW analysis in 1 8 of the 20 countries
with the highest prevalence of child marriage.18
* Child marriage is intimately connected to poverty. Poor countries
and families have few resources to support more healthy alternatives
for girls, such as schooling.19
* The caste hierarchy also perhaps has its role to play in perpetuating
such a system.
Caste, which is based on birth and heredity, does not allow marriages
between members of different castes.

* Among other subsidiary considerations which could have helped to

preserve this custom might be the belief that adults (or adolescent)
boys and girls would indulge in loose moral practices.
* People are ignorant of the legal measures against child marriage.

CONSEQUENCES
11 Child marriage impedes girl's education and prevents her getting better
employment opportunities.
ID Child marriage endangers the health of girls. Because of lack of
protection child brides are often exposed to serious health risks, early
pregnancy, and various STDs especially HIV/AIDS. Girls younger
than 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in
their 20s, and pregnancy is the leading cause of death worldwide for
women of ages 15 to 19.20
ll Child marriage limits young girls' skills, resources knowledge, social
support and autonomy. Girls who marry before 18 are extremely
vulnerable to abuse and abandonment. Violence may include physical,
sexual or physiological abuse. According to a WHO report, women
with low levels of education and adolescents of ages 15 to 19 are at
higher risk of violence than better educated or older women.21 The
UNICEF Report says that 66.9 percent girls who married before 1 8

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 Contemporary History of India 1 005

have experienced violence within the families. The same report adds
that 56.5 percent of such girls do not have decision making ability as
far as their choice of work or using contraception. 58.5 percentage of
these girls have the chance only to make their decision along with
their partners in their day to day household purchase, but not the right
to take decision in any vital family issues.22

Measure taken to Eradicate Child Marriage

S At the international level, UN and UNICEF work with communities
to raise the age of marriage and address gender discrimination through
awareness-raising and community discussions at local and national
levels and assist governments in strengthening national legislation,
policies and services.
Key international human rights instruments relating to child marriage
S Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
S Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade,
and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, 1956
S Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and
Registration of Marriages, 1962
S International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1 966
S Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), 1979
S Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC), 1989
S The UN predicts that child marriage will lead to more than 140 million
girls becoming child brides by 2020 if allowed to continue. This
amounts to 14 million child brides every year or 39000 child brides
every day.
S In September 20 1 1 a Resolution adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly designated October 1 1th as the International Dav of the
Girl Child. On 1 1 October 2012 the first International Day of the
Girl Child was observed, the theme of which was ending child
marriage.23
S In 2013 the first United Nations Human Rights Council
Resolution24against child, early, and forced marriages was adopted; it
recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and pledges to
eliminate the practice as part of the U.N. 's post-2015 global
development agenda. This Resolution is a crucial milestone in the global
effort to eliminate child marriage.

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1006 IHC: Proceedings , 74th Session, 2013

S Saudi Arabia is set to outlaw child marriages after drafting a law

which sets the legal age for marital consent as 1 8. The law is set to be
debated by Saudi Arabia's top advisory Committee, the Shura Council,
and if it is passed, no girl younger than 1 8 will be forced into marriage
without a court order.25

S In India, the government of India has enacted the Prohibition of Child

Marriage Act (2006), which came into force in the year 2007. The
Supreme Court recently handed down a decision requiring married
couples to register their consent to be married and their age with local
authorities, to better enforce the law establishing 18 as the minimum
age of marriage. In Uttar Pradesh, the government has launched a
programme to increase awareness about child marriage, and deny
eligibility for government jobs to people marrying before the age of
eighteen.26
S A National Consultation on Prevention of Child Marriage was held on
25th May 20 1 2, which recommended the need to formulate a National
Plan of Action on Prevention of Child Marriage and it has adopted
strategic interventions which will be implemented using convergent
and multi-dimensional approaches.27
Its Goals are:

S To enforce Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006 and related

laws and policies that can discourage child marriage.
S To improve access to quality education and other vocational
opportunities.
S To initiate programs that enable community mobilization and outreach
to change social norms and attitudes
S To build skills and capacities of adolescent girls and boys
S To collect data, initiate research to inform programming and
interventions

S To develop monitoring and evaluation systems for measuring outcomes

S To improve co-ordination, communication and monitoring among those
involved in the implementation
S Strategy on Prevention of Child Marriage to act as a guiding force in
formulation of National Plan of Action

S In Tamil Nadu the Government has taken steps to prevent child

marriage. District Social Welfare Officers and the Child Marriage
Prohibition Officers were appointed to take charge of the issue at the
district levels. As already mentioned they are making adequate efforts
to stop and prevent child marriages at their districts. With the efforts

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 Contemporary History of India ' 007

of the officials a total of 230 child marriages had been stopped in the
Perambalur District. The interventions made by K. Petchiammal,
District Social Welfare Officer and the Child Marriage Prohibition
Officer and the District Collector, Darez Ahmed are noteworthy. The
intensive campaign against child marriage has resulted in a growing
awareness among the masses. Several review meetings with the
executive officers of temples, proprietors of marriage halls, village
administrative officers, village health nurses, and anganwadi workers
have been organized. The State government was presently producing
a documentary film on child marriage.
S The State government has introduced various welfare schemes to
promote the education of the children in general, and girls in particular.
Similarly marriage assistance schemes are also introduced by the
governments in power to help the poor families to arrange the marriages
of their daughters, and these schemes prevent both the child marriage
as it requires the girls to be educated at least to the XII standard levels
by the time they will complete 18 years and helps them to have their
education.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, child marriage cannot be eradicated or brought under

merely through stringent laws or schemes. It has already pointed
the perpetrators of this evil practice can easily produce b
certificates. To make the Child Marriage Prohibition Act very eff
everyone involved in the marriage - one who prints the wedding in
temple priest performing the wedding ceremony and the own
marriage hall should be arrested. The officials should be strictly i
to verify the age of the bride and the groom before involving them
the marriage process or else face legal consequences. This cou
prevention of such marriages at a much earlier stage and to save m
from this social evil. Awareness of the implications of the Preven
Child Marriage Act (2006) is essential for administrative, judicial a
officials to prevent child marriages and initiate action against
The non- governmental organizations have already entered onto th
to create awareness about the consequences of child marriage and a
legal implications. Their role is equally important to prevent child
this social evil, and to eradicate it. Lastly, greater social aware
attitudinal change among the people is the most important factor
social change, transformation and reformation.

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 1008 IHC: Proceedings , 74th Session, 2013
NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. UNICEF Report, 2007.

2. http//www.unicef.org/protection/index/htmI, Accessed on 01 Nov 2013.
3. Early Marriage: A harmful Traditional Practice , UNICEF, New York, 2005.
4. ICRW Report 2006 and ICRW Report (2005); Analysis of Demographic
Survey (DHS) Data. Most recent surveys for all DHS surveyed Countries. Ra
based on data in which women of ages 20-24 reported being married by age 18

5. Act No. 6 of 2007, Ministry of Law and Justice, (legislative Department), T

India , New Delhi, 1 1 January 2007.

6. The State of the World's Children UNICEF Report 2006.

7. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) Report 20 1 1
8. National Family Health Survey (NFHS), 2005-2006
9. District Level Household & Facility Survey-3, 2007-2008.
1 0. http: //www. unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SO WC09_Table-9.pdf Accessed on 0 1 No

1 1 . The Hindu (Chennai), 1 8 January 2009.

12. Ananda Vikadan, (Tamil Weekly), 8-14 March 2005; Asha Krishna Kum
Rajalakshmi, Child Brides of India, Frontline, Volume 22, Issue 14, 2-15 July
13. Personal interview with the residents, 12.10.2003.

1 4 . Marriage is no child 's play, The Hindu , 4/10/2013.

15. The Hindu, 7/10/2013.
16. The Hindu (Namakkal) 31.5.2013.
17. District Level Household & facility Survey-3, 2007-2008, Fact Sheet - Tamil

1 8. Saranga Jain and Kuz Kathleen (2006), ICRW Research on prevalence and p
child marriage in developing countries.

19. Early Marriage: A harmful Traditional Practice, UNICEF, New York, 2005.
20. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), New York, 2004; UNICEF, State of
Children, 2009.

2 1 . World Health Organization (WHO) Report, 2005.

22. Early Marriage: A harmfid Traditional Practice, UNICEF, New York, 2005.
23. United Nations General Assembly Resolution, A/RES/66/1 70.

24. United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution , 1 6 September 20 1 3 .

25. International Business Times, 18 December 2013.

26. Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh (2000
Policy of Uttar Pradesh.

27. Report on the National Consultation on Prevention of Child Marriage held a

on 25th May 2012.

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