Child Marriage And It's Socio-Economic And Political Perspectives In The State Of Assam.

On January 23, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced that the state government will launch a drive against child marriage and will book men marrying girls below 14 years of age under the protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and those marrying girls aged 14-18 under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

Altogether 2441 people have been arrested since the drive against child marriage was launched in Assam on February 2, Assam Chief Minister said on February 6.

Recent crackdown on people who were involved in child marriage by the  government of Assam is something where we need to look back to some socio-economic and political perspectives. There is no doubt that child marriage is a social evil and no one should promote this it is also prohibited by law in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data of 2020, a total of 785 cases were registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The number of cases registered were the highest in Karnataka at 184, followed by Assam at 138, West Bengal at 98, Tamil Nadu at 77 and Telengana at 62. This was the official data only the actual number is more than this. There are some factors for prevalence of Child marriage in India or Assam. Like- (1) Lack of Education. (2) Poverty. (3) Economies of marriage. (4) Patriarchy and gender inequalities. (5) Insecurity. (6) Inadequate implementation of the law. (7) Prevailing cultural perspectives. (8) Political and financial reasons. (9) Social background. (10) Trafficking etc. What I observed is that most of the people who were arrested from poor socio-economic backgrounds and they are the main bread earners of the whole family. One family member was saying to the media that the girl got pregnant when the boy and the girl were in a relationship so they got married. One boy was saying that the girl's parents died and no one was there to look after her so they got married. One girl was saying no one forced us to marry by consent from both we did love marriage. One girl who lost her husband in covid also have small child did suicide in fear of going to jail of her in laws and parents. A few girls are pregnant of 5 to 6 months, who will be accountable for the mental and emotional support of a caring woman. People got married and now they have small child.So here the main question is that the main bread earner of the family who have young kids age of 1 and  2 years in their home, who will feed them? What about the rights of the parental love of the kids? Although the government has announced that they will provide monetary help and give ration to the girl but it's not enough for the whole family. When we are discussing the concept like parental leave and  partying their kids from their father are inhuman. What about the mental and emotional trauma of the small child after seeing his/her father in jail? Does any scheme of government can give compensation to it.My argument seems like I'm supporting Child marriage, but I don't. Prevention is  important in this situation. It proves the failure of the state here. There should be a proper counseling system where couples are children and get married. Instead of sending couples to jail in old cases who have small children now it should be better if the government took initiative to  teach  them about the evil of child marriage,dowry, family planning, menstrual health, child care and nutrition, healthy sexual life and help them to get education and better employment opportunity.

The author is a postgraduate scholar at the Centre for Women's Studies, UoH, Hyderabad.( rupam.hcu98@gmail.com)

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