Poverty & school closure have pushed up child marriages in Karnataka

In 2020-21, Women and Child Development department officials stopped 15 child marriages on average, every two days. Total cases prevented in the year stood at a staggering 2,711, about 67% higher than 1,623 child marriages averted by officials in 2019-20 and more than double the cases reported in 2018-19. Closure of schools along with the deteriorating economic situation in rural areas, according to the department, are responsible for the surge. Among the districts, highest number of cases were detected in Ballari district with 249 while Mysuru was second with 245. In 10 other districts of the state, more than 100 cases of child marriage were stopped.

Child rights activist Baburaj Palladan said that the spike in cases was due to a “lot of insecurity about the future of children, especially girls.” Since there is no school or college, the girls are forced to sit at home and are not engaged. “There are also threats to adolescent girls, and parents worried about their safety think that marriage will provide the girls some security,” he said.

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