As per the NCRB’s annual Crime in India report, a complete of 782 instances had been booked underneath the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 within the 12 months 2020. This is about 50% greater than the variety of instances registered in 2019. Compared to the 12 months 2011, the variety of instances has elevated by nearly seven instances. 

The minimal age of marriage has been a subject of dialogue for the reason that introduction of the Prohibition of the Child Marriage Amendment Bill, 2021 which seeks to extend the authorized age of marriage for ladies from 18 years to 21 years, bringing it at par with that of males. This is to be performed by amending private legal guidelines together with the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969. The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani launched the Bill within the Winter Session of the Parliament in 2021. Following heated debates within the Parliament and opposition, the invoice was referred to a standing committee. In the lately concluded Budget Session of the Parliament, the committee was given an extension of three months. 

Crime in India experiences present knowledge on instances registered underneath PCM Act,2006

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006  (PCM) prohibits solemnization of marriage of a boy who’s lower than 21 years of age or a woman who’s lower than 18 years of age. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in its annual Crime in India (CII) report, gives knowledge on the variety of instances registered underneath the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 throughout states underneath the top of Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes.  The newest CII report is accessible for the 12 months 2020.  

Cases of kid marriage elevated by over 50% in 2020

As per the NCRB report, the variety of instances registered underneath the PCM Act has elevated by nearly 7 instances within the final decade. While the variety of instances registered in 2019 (523) was greater than 4 instances the 113 instances registered in 2011, there was improve of just about 50% in 2020, the 12 months through which the COVID-19 pandemic started in India. From 113 instances in 2011, the variety of instances registered underneath the PCM act elevated to 782 in 2020. During the ten-year interval of 2011 to 2020, a complete of three,604 instances had been registered underneath the PCM act.   

11 states contributed greater than 85% of the instances registered within the final decade

Of the overall 3,604 instances registered underneath the PCM act between 2011 & 2020, 17.2% of the instances had been registered in Karnataka alone. With 621 instances registered within the state, the variety of instances registered in Karnataka exceeds the overall variety of instances registered throughout the nation in 2019. With 514 registered instances, West Bengal accounted for 14.3% of the instances through the ten-year interval. Tamil Nadu (480 instances) and Assam (441 instances) accounted for 13.3% and 12.2% of the instances respectively. Together, the 4 states alone contributed to 57% of the instances registered throughout the nation throughout 2011 & 2020. Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, and Odisha registered greater than 100 instances every throughout this era and collectively accounted for 26.8% of the instances. Altogether, these 11 states contributed to almost 87% of all of the instances within the final decade.  

Each of the 5 south Indian states registered greater than 100 instances every. A complete of 1,575 instances had been registered within the southern states that accounted for almost 44% of the instances registered on the nationwide stage.  No instances had been registered in 5 (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim) out of the overall 8 northeastern states. One case was registered in Meghalaya, 11 instances in Tripura, and 441 instances had been registered in Assam through the ten-year interval. In different phrases, 97.4% of the instances registered within the north-east had been from Assam alone, whereas Tripura and Meghalaya accounted 2.4% and 0.2% respectively. 

Number of instances registered in Karnataka and Assam has constantly elevated

Karnataka and Assam have reported a gradual improve within the variety of instances registered within the final decade. Being the one states to register greater than 100 instances in a single 12 months (in each 2019 and 2020), the 2 states accounted for 41% of the overall instances registered in India in 2020 and 43% of the instances registered in 2019. In 2020, Karnataka registered greater than 15 instances the instances registered in 2011 whereas Assam registered 138 instances in 2020 as in opposition to 0 instances in 2011 and 2012. 

Telangana too has reported a steady improve in instances since 2014, besides in 2018. Despite a decline in instances in 2019, states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala have reported a rise in instances in 2020. Surprisingly, the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Sikkim which had excessive crime rate against children in 2020, registered only one,5, and 0 instances of kid marriage in 2020, respectively. 

The solely two believable causes for this improve are both the development in reporting of such instances or the precise improve within the incidence of instances or each. Despite the rise in instances, one has to remember that the numbers supplied within the NCRB report solely pertain to incidents which have led to submitting a FIR. There could possibly be quite a few different instances which haven’t been reported to the police. 

Karnataka and Assam governments rolled out measures to curb little one marriages

According to media experiences, Karnataka reported 296 instances of kid marriages in 2020-21, 156 in 2019-20, whereas 119 instances had been reported in 2018-19. The involved minister is reported to have cited poverty, illiteracy, superstition, lack of awareness about legal guidelines associated to little one marriage, negligence in direction of educating lady youngsters, and conventional needs of elders as the explanations behind the excessive variety of instances reported within the state. The quantity is excessive within the state regardless of the 2017 amendment to the PCM act which declared little one marriages as void ab initio or invalid in legislation.  

Meanwhile, in Assam, as per media reports, the Social Welfare Minister instructed the Assembly lately that 3,192 little one marriages had been recorded between 2016-17 and 2020-21. The variety of little one marriages was 74 in 2016-17 which elevated to 448 in 2017-18, 759 in 2018-19, and 1089 in 2019-20. In 2021, the state authorities announced a one-time monetary package deal together with a tola of gold as marriage help for women of marriageable age as a measure to verify little one marriage within the state. 

Prevalence of kid marriage in India was increased than in Pakistan, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka

According to a UNICEF Report, Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India printed in 2019, there have been over 650 million little one brides globally of which 285 million had been from South Asia, and 223 million had been from India alone. In easier phrases, one out of three little one brides globally reside in India. Of the nation’s 223 million little one brides, 102 million had been married earlier than even turning 15 years of age. In phrases of prevalence of kid marriage, calculated as proportion of girls aged 20 to 24 years who had been first married or in union earlier than age 18, the prevalence in India was 27%, increased than in its neighbouring nations of Pakistan (21%), Bhutan (26%), and Sri Lanka (10%).

As per the report, Uttar Pradesh had the biggest variety of little one brides within the country- 36 million, adopted by Bihar and West Bengal with 22 million every. Over half of Indian little one brides lived in 5 states- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. The prevalence throughout states ranged between 8% in Kerala and Punjab, and over 40% in Bihar and West Bengal. 

Prevalence was highest amongst girls from poorer households with decrease training ranges

Large disparity within the prevalence of kid marriage was discovered throughout girls with completely different ranges of training and financial background. The prevalence was as excessive as 56% amongst girls from poorest financial background from rural areas with out training and a pair of% amongst girls from wealthy households with excessive training. The report additionally famous that disparities in prevalence was smaller amongst girls from completely different non secular teams and castes/tribes. On the opposite hand, only one in 25 males had been married earlier than the age of 18. Contrary to the worldwide definition, the authorized age of marriage for males in India is 21 years and one in 5 males had been married earlier than turning 21 years. 

While there was a substantial enchancment within the consciousness in regards to the antagonistic results of kid marriage, the report added that to realize the SDG goal of eliminating little one marriage by 2030, India should speed up the progress. 

The efforts must be ramped up each within the mild of accelerating instances and the pandemic which is predicted to have elevated little one marriages and reversed the progress revamped many years.