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Fearing ‘affairs’, rural parents opt for child marriages: Study
Krishna district stands first, Anantapur second, Chittoor third and Visakhapatnam occupies fourth place in child marriages, according to a survey by Young Lives, an NGO.
Anantapur: Krishna district stands first, Anantapur second, Chittoor third and Visakhapatnam occupies fourth place in child marriages, according to a survey by Young Lives, an NGO.
Highlights:
- Krishna tops the list, followed by Anantapur in a survey conducted by an NGO
- Drought, famine and migration also play a crucial role in parents opting for child marriages
- 26 per cent of girls in the state marry below 18 years of age
Speaking to The Hans India, mothers who are opting for child marriages to their daughters say that they are opting for a lesser evil. Elaborating on the issue, the mothers say that the evil of exposing their teenage daughters to love affairs and pre-marital sex is far more dangerous than the social evil of child marriages.
These apart, the volatility of their economic conditions including drought, famine, joblessness, migration and others prompt rural mothers to dispose of their teenage daughters as early as possible.
Despite the awareness campaign against child marriages by the department of woman and child welfare, rural people's inclination to get their daughters married after attaining puberty, has moral issues including preventing of love affairs. In rural culture, 'love affairs ' is taboo.
Sri Devi (name changed), mother of 13-year-old daughter Poornima (name changed) of Bukkarayasamudram told that she got her daughter married after she attained puberty. “I and my husband are doing odd jobs and cannot really protect my daughter from influences from opposite sex, which in many cases are leading to pre-marital sex,” she added.
There are also divergent views on rural girls opting for higher education as there are no jobs even for urban youth. Many are of the view that one can be a literate by going up to SSC education but in a country and society where job opportunities are less, there is no point in going on an education spree.
The survey points out that 26 per cent of girls in the state marry below 18 years of age and 40 per cent of them get pregnant and become mothers by 18 years and 72 per cent of boys in rural areas are marrying below 21 years of age.
In Anantapur district, on an average, the child line bureau operated by the office of child protection gets 8-10 telephone calls every day alerting them on child marriages either fixed or occurring on the day, according to child protection officer D Subramanyam.
Subramanyam said that this was possible because of the aggressive campaign against child marriages and the child protection act.
He said that many parents had revealed that the reason for getting their daughters married immediately after attaining puberty is the nature of their social life as they migrate to places in search of greener pastures and they feel that getting their daughters married is viewed as best option so that their burdens get lesser.
CPDO Krishna Kumari says that the number of calls the office gets every day explains the amount of awareness the rural populace has on the issue.
BY Ravi P Benjamin
