Child marriages in Odisha witnessed 50 per cent increase during Covid pandemic

64 child marriages had taken place between 2020 and 2021 in Odisha. In 2020, the number of cases registered under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, was 24. In the year 2019, it was 22. n 2021, the number of such cases registered in Odisha was 2.7 times than that registered in 2020.
child rights children child marriage girl child crimes against children

Representational image.

Photo : iStock
Bhubaneswar: Odisha witnessed a 50 per cent increase in child marriages during the coronavirus outbreak, data shows. 64 child marriages had taken place between 2020 and 2021 in Odisha, which is the highest in the last decade, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed.
In 2020, the number of cases registered under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, was 24. In the year 2019, it was 22, The New Indian Express reported. In 2021, the number of such cases registered in Odisha was 2.7 times than that registered in 2020, the report added.
Among the 164 reported child marriages held in Odisha during the last 10 years, 2020 and 2021 together contributed to more than half of it.
According to the report, 50 minor girls were kidnapped for marriage during the year 2021 in Odisha. The tally was 92 in 2020, the NCRB data showed.
The data raises serious concerns as a large number of child marriages go unreported, especially in the rural areas.
“There are many reasons which led to rise in such marriages during the pandemic, be it loss of livelihood, lack of monitoring by officials concerned and most importantly, closure of schools. Girls were restricted to their homes and the sudden economic pressure that their parents endured due to loss of livelihood forced many of them to marry off their daughters early,” a social activist from Odisha told the newspaper.
According to Odisha's Department of Women and Child Development, necessary actions have been initiated to eradicate the social evil of child marriage once and for all from the state.
End of Article