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Child marriages on the rise in Tamil Nadu amid Covid: Study
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SME Times News Bureau | 11 Jun, 2021
With the Covid pandemic creating a financial crisis and parents finding
it difficult to make ends meet, girls under the marriageable age are
being married off in the state.
A study conducted by the NGO
Child Rights and You (CRY) found that child marriage is rampant in the
districts of Dharmapuri, Salem, Ramanathapuram and Dindugal in the
state.
The study states that there could be a higher number of
child marriages in these districts that had witnessed 318 cases of child
marriage in May 2020, a whopping 40 percent increase from May 2019.
The
month of May is considered most auspicious for marriages in Tamil Nadu
and the figures for May 2021 are yet to be compiled. However, there was a
worrying trend in the number of girls getting married off citing
poverty of parents and other reasons.
According to CRY, in May
2019 Salem district recorded 60 child marriages while in May 2020 the
figure was 98. Dharmapuri district had 150 cases in May 2019 and in May
2020 the figure was 192.
In the 2011 census it was reported that
in Tamil Nadu, 8.26% of girls in the age group of 6-19 were married off.
Statistics show that Dharmapurai (11.6%) and Salem (10.9%) are the two
districts with the highest number of child marriages.
M Jayam,
Director, Salem People's Trust working in Dharmapuri and Salem
districts, told IANS, "Most of the parents don't have any cash and they
find that during the lockdown period they can conduct the marriage
cheaply. Marriages are held spending less than Rs 20000 and parents cite
this as an excuse to marry off the girl."
She said that more
than the tribal hamlets in these districts, the study by her
organization at the grassroot level found that the urban areas are more
prone to these child marriages.
She said, "We are trying our best
to prevent these marriages reporting to the local police station and
bringing to the notice of the district administration but these
marriages are held in secrecy and the general public is not aware of
such a thing happening as there are no invitees except the close
relatives of the bride and groom."
John Roberts of CRY said that
as there was a 40% increase in child marriages in May 2020 when compared
to May 2019, the 2021 figures will be disturbing as local level
volunteers are reporting an increasing trend as child marriages are
considered as an easy way for the parents to fulfil their
responsibilities.
Dr Bindu Menon, Clinical Psychologist at Salem,
told IANS, " Until and unless there is a feeling that girl children are
assets and not liabilities, the child marriages will tend to increase.
Covid and lockdown have added to these woes and bright girl children
are being married off at a tender age without knowing what was happening
to them. The police and district administrations must take a very rigid
and strong stand to curb this inhuman act."
Padmanabhan M, an
officer heading a police station in Dharmapuri district, said, "We are
trying our best to prevent this but most of these marriages are held in
utmost secrecy. We have brought some parents to book and charged them
but it's only the tip of the iceberg."
Another major issue facing
the state will be the children who are orphaned during Covid and the
possibility of such children falling victims to child racketeers.
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