Telangana among high prevalence States for child marriages

Telangana is one among eight States where the prevalence of child marriage is high

Hyderabad: With Telangana figuring among high prevalence States for child marriages in the country, with the State’s average being higher than the national average, the State machinery is taking steps to end the practice by 2030.

Telangana is one among eight States where the prevalence of child marriage is high. According to the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2021, the number of child marriages reported in Telangana were 25 in 2017, 24 in 2018, 35 in 2019, 60 in 2020 and 57 in 2021.

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As per the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 2019-21), Telangana’s child marriage average stood at 23.5 percent against the national average of 23.3 percent. Keeping this in mind, the State government has intensified efforts to ensure that minor children in the State were not married before the legal age. Recently, the Women and Child Development (WCD) department, State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and TS Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) along with Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) discussed the various challenges and solutions in combating child marriage and child sexual abuse.

As per the data available with the State government, the top three districts with the highest prevalence of child marriage in the 15-19 age group were Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar, whereas lowest prevalence was found in Karimnagar. The data from the NCRB reveals that only 154 cases of child marriage were officially registered in the State under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act between 2019 and 2021. In fact, under the Rachakonda Commissionerate jurisdiction in the last five years, 117 child marriage were averted and of them, 21 were stopped in 2023 alone.

The NFHS (2019-21) further reports that 23.5 percent of women in Telangana, aged 20-24, were married before turning 18. Teenage pregnancy, which is primarily a consequence of child marriage, has come down from 7.9 per cent in 2015-16 to 6.8 per cent in 2019-21 at the all-India level. The corresponding decrease in Telangana has been from 10.6 per cent to 5.8 per cent, the survey stated.

According to officials, the government was taking steps to bring together various stakeholders so that they could work in tandem to bring down child marriages in the State. The ‘Kalyana Lakshmi’ and ‘Shaadi Mubarak’ schemes, introduced by the previous government, have helped prevent child marriages in the State, officials said.

The reports indicated that girls from poorer households were more likely to get married at a younger age than girls from wealthier households. At the State level, 16.4 percent of the girls aged 15-19 years from bottom level households were married as child brides compared to 15.1 percent girls from middle class and 5.3 percent from top wealthier households.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, declares that any marriage solemnised between children below the legal age limit was null and void. The act also provides punishments for various offences for allowing or conducting child marriages between minors or marrying minors with adults.