West UP districts fare worst as UP reports 354 child marriage cases amid pandemic

LUCKNOW: Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the child rights protection group has been intercepting an average of six incidents of child marriage every week during the last 14 months, with majority of cases reported from west UP districts.
Even in one of the most developed districts of the state, Noida, at least 15 cases of child marriage were intercepted.
In April and May this year, when the entire state was in the grip of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the child protection group rescued 62 minors, mostly girls, who were being married off by their families.
According to the officials of the department of women and child development, a total of 354 teenagers, mostly girls, were rescued across UP between April 1, 2020 and June 1, 2021. The highest number of cases were reported from west UP districts.
According to Satya Prakash, the chief operations officer of FXB India Suraksha, which runs child protection campaigns in Noida, 15 cases were detected in the district during the pandemic.
“Though Noida is a developed district, child marriage is still a major cause for concern —especially in rural and industrial parts of the district,” he said.
Explaining the reasons for the prevalence of child marriages in cities like Noida, Prakash said: “Migrants from Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal and other states reside in Noida. Many have 3-4 children and prefer to marry off their daughters early due to poor financial condition. Sometimes, they find men who do not demand dowry. We have come across cases where parents tried to fix the marriage of minor daughters along with the elder one to save cost.”
“Some parents suffer from social stigma and fear that their minor daughters may get distracted by social media or may have an affair with someone which may bring shame to the family,” he said.
Deputy director, women and child development (UP), Vijendra Niranjan, said: “There has been no decline in cases of child marriage as these are often driven by social pressure. Noida, which is one of the wealthiest districts, recorded the highest number of calls informing about child marriage. Irrespective of the pandemic situation, people in west UP, especially in Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Hapur and Meerut, believe in early marriage of girls.”
“The mindset can be gauged from the fact that this Akshay Tritiya, 15 child marriages were intercepted. In east UP too, we have seen cases of child marriage in Sonbhadra. Over 80% of child marriage victims are girls,” he added.
Child marriages are prevalent in other parts of the state too, including the state capital.
According to the Lucknow unit of Childline, a total 34 teenage girls were rescued between April 2020 and the first week of June this year.
Last week, a 16-year-old girl, eldest of the four siblings from an underprivileged family in Bakshi Ka Talab in Lucknow, was rescued by the child protection unit.
Her parents, who worked as labourers, had stopped getting work during coronavirus curfew. Reeling under extreme poverty, they decided to solemnise the marriage of their daughter to reduce the financial burden on the family.
“The family took the decision in distress. Due to the alertness of local residents, the marriage was stopped after the intervention of the child protection unit,” said Uday Bhan, representative of the local gram pradhan.
The girl had discontinued studies a couple of years ago to support her family, while her three siblings were staying at home since last year after their local government school was shut down amid pandemic.
Another teenager, eldest among four children, was rescued in May in Lucknow’s Maal, when the child protection unit was alerted that her maternal grandfather had fixed her marriage. She is the only daughter of her parents.
However, the girl’s uncle denied the allegations. “The girl’s parents are labourers. When they stopped getting work during the pandemic, they visited us and selected a groom for their daughter during their stay with us. They have not finalised any date. The marriage will be solemnised only after she attains the age of 18,” the girl’s uncle told TOI.
Childline counsellor Varsha Sharma said during the pandemic, more people were trying to reduce their financial burden by marrying off their teenage children, mostly daughters.
“In majority of cases, we found that the families were extremely poor and uncertain about their future due to pandemic and corona curfew,” she said.