Odisha saw an 50 per cent rise in child marriages during Covid- 19 pandemic, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed.
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha saw an 50 per cent rise in child marriages during Covid- 19 pandemic, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed. As per the report, 64 child marriages had taken place between 2020 and 2021, the highest in the last decade. In 2020, the number of cases registered under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, was 24 and 22 in 2019. In 2021, the number of cases registered in Odisha was 2.7 times than that registered in 2020. In the last 10 years, the number of child marriages held in Odisha stands at 164 which points out that more than 50 per cent of such marriages since 2011 were registered in 2020 and 2021 alone.
The report points out that at least 50 minor girls were kidnapped/ abducted for marriage last year. The number was 92 the previous year. Child rights activists feel the number of violations reported under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act will be much more because these are the only cases that were reported to police. In rural pockets, not all cases are reported and FIR registered, they said.
“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,” said Ghasiram Panda, an activist.
The NCRB data, however, does not corroborate with the National Family Health Survey- 5 (NFHS-5) which had found out that child marriages in the State had declined by 0.8 percent (pc) in the last six years. While the NFHS-5 (2019- 21) states that around 20.5 pc of women aged 20-24 years got married before attaining the legal age of 18 years, it was 21.3 pc in NFHS-4 (2015-16). Sources said since the sample size taken for NFHS was small due to the pandemic, the data on child marriages was limited. The WCD department officials said steps are being taken to end the social evil.
