Representative image of child marriage.
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: It will take another 19 years to do away with the backlog of child marriage cases with our current resources, a report has revealed. The report, 'Towards Justice: Ending Child Marriage', released by the NCPCR on Wednesday also showed a model that has worked — A reduction of 80 per cent in cases in 20 districts in Assam.
The report has recommended a rehabilitation framework for children who annul child marriages, setting up of fast track courts, and treating the victims of child marriages at par with survivors of child sexual abuse.
The report drafted by India Child Protection, and released by NCPCR chief Priyank Kanungo and Child Marriage Free India founder and child rights activist Bhuwan Ribhu showed that while three girls get married in India every minute, only three cases were registered every day in 2022.
"As per the 2011 census data, a staggering 4,442 girls (below 18 years) were getting married everyday. This translates into 185 girl children getting married every hour and three of them getting married every minute," the report said.
Data from NCRB shows that out of the 63,513 children rescued from kidnapping or abduction in 2022, as many as 15,748 (25%) had been taken away for the purpose of either 'marriage' or 'illicit intercourse'. "Of this, 15,142 children recovered in 2022 were kidnapped solely for the purpose of marriage. In 2022, 13,981 cases were reported for the offence of kidnapping and abduction of a minor girl to compel her marriage, compared to 11,236 in 2020. This highlights a 24% increase in the number of minor girls being kidnapped or abducted for the purpose of marriage during 2020-22," the report said.
In addition to these staggering figures, several such cases are pending in courts. In the year 2022, out of the total 3,563 child marriage cases listed for trial in courts under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, a mere 181 cases were successfully concluded in terms of trial completion. "The conviction rate in cases filed under the Act is an area of concern … In 2022, a mere 11% of these cases resulted in convictions, contrasting sharply with the overall conviction rate of 34% for all crimes committed against children during that year," the report added.
The report has recommended states to follow up with the success of Assam's crackdown on child marriages, which led to an 80% reduction in such cases. "The data, collected from NCRB as well as from 1,132 villages across districts in Assam with a total population of 21 lakh and a child population of 8 lakh, states that owing to the crackdown on child marriages, the state has witnessed the complete eradication of child marriage in 30% of its villages, while 40% have reported a significant decline in the once-rampant practice of child marriage," the report said.
An overwhelming 98 per cent of the respondents in Assam, as per the report, believed that the state government’s initiatives in 2023 had a substantial influence on the reduction of child marriages, the report said.
"In 12 districts, out of 20, over 90 per cent of respondents believe that taking legal action such as arresting individuals and filing FIRs in cases related to child marriage can effectively address the occurrence of such cases," the report added. It urged other states to follow the Assam model.
"Children, who hold the future of this great nation, need to be enriched, preserved, and protected, and this government is leaving no stone unturned in achieving this goal. Prosecution is definitely the key to ending this crime against children, and Assam’s model on ending child marriages has shown the country the way forward," Kanungo said.