Child marriages continue unabated at Chamarajanagar

MYSURU: Chamarajanagar, one of the backward districts in the state, has registered a sharp rise in child marriages and officials and experts on the ground attribute it to the prolonged closure of schools due to the pandemic.
NGOs, police and children protection committee members have prevented more than 50 weddings in the district since the nationwide lockdown was imposed, after receiving distress calls to the child helpline (1098).
A total of 52 child marriages have been stopped since June.Those manning the child helpline stopped 13 marriages in August, 12 in September cases and 11 in June. Until Tuesday (November 24), 16 marriages have been stopped this month.
Latha, coordinator, Chamarajanagar district child helpline, which is run by Organization for the Development of People (ODP), an NGO which has been functioning since 2015, said it receives about 600 distress calls on average from children every year. She said the number of calls this year have been higher, although she could not give a number.
“Since many returned to their villages because of loss of jobs in cities and schools were shut, some parents secretly arranged weddings of their children,” she said. “They feared for the safety and future of their children.” She said cases had been filed against parents in two cases.
Another reason for the increase in such marriages is the cost factor — weddings are cheaper due to Covid restrictions. Parents are also taking advantage of the absence of officials as most are involved in Covid-19 duties.
Latha said people can help by reporting such marriages in their neighbourhood to the helpline (1098). She promised details of these people will be kept confidential.