GUWAHATI
The Assam government’s emphasis on legal intervention in child marriage cases is now a proven model for the rest of the country to follow, a report released on World Day for International Justice on July 17 said.
The report titled ‘Towards Justice: Ending Child Marriage’ by India Child Protection (ICP) said Assam’s legal strategy helped slash child marriages in the State by 81% across 20 districts between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 fiscals.
Established in 2005, the ICP is a child rights protection organisation focusing on combatting child sexual abuse and related crimes, including child trafficking, exploitation of children in the digital space, and child marriage.
The report said the Assam model was effective in ending child marriages in 30% of villages and leading to a decline in such cases in 40% of villages across the 20 districts studied.
“Every minute, three girls get married in India. Yet in 2022, only three cases were registered every day. According to the Census 2011 data, 4,442 girls (below 18 years) were getting married every day. This translates into 185 girl children getting married every hour and three getting married every minute,” the report summarised.
At the current rate (92%) of pendency in the trial courts, India may take 19 years to clear the backlog of child marriage cases, the report said.
The data was collected from the National Crime Records Bureau apart from 1,132 villages across Assam’s 20 districts with a total population of 21 lakh and a child population of 8 lakh. The data revealed the impact of the Assam government’s crackdown on child marriages, the report said.
‘People back State action’
In 12 out of the 20 districts, 98% of the respondents believed 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 stated.
“Prosecution is the key to ending this crime against children, and the Assam model to end child marriages has shown the country the way forward,” Priyank Kanoongo, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights said after releasing the ICP report.
He underscored the importance of the “secular” Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act that “supersede all personal laws”.
Bhuwan Ribhu, the founder of Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) said: “Assam has shown that legal action is also the best public awareness message to create the deterrence of child marriage and almost all people in the State believe in prosecution in such cases. This message must spread across India to create a child marriage-free India.”
Role of panchayats
Beyond Assam, the report highlighted a High Court of Rajasthan judgment holding panchayats accountable for child marriage, which resulted in a significant decline in child marriage cases reported on Akshaya Tritiya.
“Across India, 161 civil society organisations in 265 districts throughout 17 States and Union Territories successfully prevented 14,137 child marriages in 2023–2024 by using legal interventions and prevented 59,364 child marriages with the help of panchayats,” the report said.
The ICP is a part of the CMFI, which has about 200 NGO partners that prevented 14,137 child marriages by using legal interventions and 59,364 more with the help of the panchayats in 2023-24.
