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19 per cent women in city wed underage: Times of India
Kolkata, May 07: West Bengal`s pride in being one of the most progressive states has taken a severe beating.
Kolkata, May 07: West Bengal’s pride in being one of the most progressive states has taken a severe beating.
Almost half the marriages in the state involve minor girls, according to a Health Intelligence Report for 2001-02. The report says on an average 48.5 women per 100 in the state are under 18 when they get married. The findings were based on a random household survey.
Kolkata has fared better than the districts, but not by much. In every 100 marriages in the city, 19.5 involve women below the age of 18. Murshidabad has recorded the highest number of child marriages — a shocking 79.1. In fact, there are nine districts which have around 50 per cent child marriages. However, no complaint regarding child marriage has been recorded by the Kolkata Police in the last five years. “We have received no official complaint for the past several years,” said deputy commissioner (headquarters), K.L. Tamta. If an incident is reported to the police, a suo motu case can be started. But that too hasn’t happened in the last five years.
Health officials admit the trend of child marriage was alarming. “If appropriate measures are not taken, it will be difficult to contain the problem,” said a senior official. The officials blames it on the lackadaisical attitude by the health department in spreading awareness. However, even in the districts where officials have made regular visits, the percentage of child marriage is high. For instance, despite health workers visiting 28.2 and 30.6 per cent houses in Purulia and Bankura respectively, child marriage amounts to 74.4 and 50 per cent in the two states. In Murshidabad and North Dinajpur, there is a direct correlation between visits by health officials and child marriage figures. In Murshidabad, only 4.6 houses in every 100 were visited by officials three months prior to the survey. The corresponding figure for North Dinajpur was 3.8 per 100 and this showed in the sorry figure of 59.1 per cent child marriage.
Almost half the marriages in the state involve minor girls, according to a Health Intelligence Report for 2001-02. The report says on an average 48.5 women per 100 in the state are under 18 when they get married. The findings were based on a random household survey.
Kolkata has fared better than the districts, but not by much. In every 100 marriages in the city, 19.5 involve women below the age of 18. Murshidabad has recorded the highest number of child marriages — a shocking 79.1. In fact, there are nine districts which have around 50 per cent child marriages. However, no complaint regarding child marriage has been recorded by the Kolkata Police in the last five years. “We have received no official complaint for the past several years,” said deputy commissioner (headquarters), K.L. Tamta. If an incident is reported to the police, a suo motu case can be started. But that too hasn’t happened in the last five years.
Health officials admit the trend of child marriage was alarming. “If appropriate measures are not taken, it will be difficult to contain the problem,” said a senior official. The officials blames it on the lackadaisical attitude by the health department in spreading awareness. However, even in the districts where officials have made regular visits, the percentage of child marriage is high. For instance, despite health workers visiting 28.2 and 30.6 per cent houses in Purulia and Bankura respectively, child marriage amounts to 74.4 and 50 per cent in the two states. In Murshidabad and North Dinajpur, there is a direct correlation between visits by health officials and child marriage figures. In Murshidabad, only 4.6 houses in every 100 were visited by officials three months prior to the survey. The corresponding figure for North Dinajpur was 3.8 per 100 and this showed in the sorry figure of 59.1 per cent child marriage.