Child marriage still remains a big problem in Jharkhand, which is one of the most backward states of the country. In this state, infamous for murders on charges of witchcraft, the cases of early marriage of girls are also not stopping. The Union Home Ministry has released the survey of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner’s Office and said that Jharkhand itself is witnessing the highest number of child marriages.
In a joint survey of the Registrar General and Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, it has been revealed that 5.8 percent of girls in Jharkhand are married before the age of 18 years. Nationally, the percentage of girls who married before the age of 18 is 1.9, while in Kerala it is 0.0. It has been said in the survey that in rural and urban areas of Jharkhand, 7.3 percent and three percent of girls, respectively have been married before turning 18.
This report from the Sample Registration System includes estimates of population, fertility and mortality. About 84 lakh people have participated in this report. The survey was conducted in 2020 and the figures were published at the end of last month.
Jharkhand and West Bengal are the two states in the country where more than half of the women are married before the age of 21. According to the survey, in West Bengal where 54.9 percent of girls are married before the age of 21. In Jharkhand, this figure is 54.6 percent, while the national average is 29.5 percent.
What is the reason for child marriage?
A large population in Jharkhand is still cut off from the main stream of the society. Illiteracy is a big reason. The rate of child marriage is high in tribal society and backward sections. Here the practice of getting the girls married before they become adults is flourishing. Illiteracy is one of the major causes of child marriage in West Bengal.
Child marriage has a bad effect on their health. They are at risk of uterine cancer. By becoming a mother at a young age, children remain malnourished. Some women even die. Child marriage also has social disadvantages. After marriage at the young age of the girls, their education is also left behind.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 32 people died in Jharkhand on charges of witchcraft in 2015, 27 in 2016, 19 in 2017, 18 in 2018 and 15-15 in 2019 and 2020. It is happening only because of illiteracy. Incidents of mob lynchings of people come to the fore even on the allegations of kidnapping. Unless and until the right education is propagated and spread throughout the state, it is difficult to stop such incidents.
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