According to recent reports, the number of married girls in the age
group of 15 to 19 years in India is down to 51% since the year 2000, the most
impressive gain recorded by any country in South Asia, according to the Global
Childhood Report by NGO Save the Children. Yet nearly 1.5 million girls in
India get married before they turn 18, as per UNICEF. Despite this practice
being outlawed, child marriage proves to be one of the worst social evils in
our country.
CHILDLINE team received a call from a 16 years old girl from
Mandya district in Karnataka informing that her family was marrying her off
against her wishes. The girl was not willing to get married, so as final hope
to get out of marriage she called Childline 1098.
After receiving information about the case, CHILDLINE team
visited the girl’s home along with the DCPU staff and the police. The team made
her family aware about the adverse consequences of child marriage on the
child’s mental and physical health and also the law that it is illegal to marry
a girl before 18 years of age.
After a lot of discussion with the parents, they finally
agreed to cancel the marriage at the moment. Later CHILDLINE team presented the
girl and her parents to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) with the case details and
a written statement was taken from parents stating that they will not marry off
their girl child until she reaches the age of marriage. But the child was not
willing to stay with her parents, so she was provided shelter at government
girls home.
Timely intervention by CHILDLINE team managed to cancel the
child marriage with the help of Police, DPCU and CWC.
Disclaimer : Names and details have been changed to
maintain confidentiality as required.
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