CSES says almost all of them in northern districts
Marriage below the age of 15 not reported
Data show teenage marriages coming down
KOCHI: Despite the rapid strides made by women in Kerala in social development, education and a host of reproductive health indicators, teenage marriage of girls continues to survive in the State, mainly in the Malabar region.
One out of every 15 women in Kerala marries before attaining the legal minimum age of marriage of 18, thus violating a law that provides for jail terms for those who facilitates the marriage.
Malappuram tops
According to a study conducted by the Kochi-based Centre for Socio-economic and Environmental Studies (CSES), almost all such marriages take place in the northern districts, close to half of them in Malappuram, followed by Kasaragod, Kannur and Wayanad.
Elsewhere in the country, 28 per cent of women marry before attaining the legal age of marriage, a substantial number of them even before turning the age of 15. In Kerala, though, marriage below the age of 15 has not been reported.
The study “Health of women in Kerala: current status and emerging issues” was based on government data, mainly the District-level Household Survey of Reproductive and Child Health (DLHS-RCH 1 and 2).
The data showed that the number of teenage marriages was coming down. The RCH 1, conducted in the late 1990s, showed that 8.5 per cent of the marriages were underage and hence illegal, but the RCH 2, conducted in 2002-04, noticed a two percentage point fall to 6.6.
Punishment
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which updated the earlier law, defines girls under 18 and boys under 21 as children. The law provides for up to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.1 lakh for a man marrying a child. It offers the same punishment to those solemnising, facilitating or promoting a child marriage.
Section 11(1) of the Act says: “Where a child contracts a child marriage, any person having charge of the child, whether as parent or guardian or any other person or in any other capacity, lawful or unlawful, including any member of an organisation or association of persons who does any act to promote the marriage or permits it to be solemnised, or negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnised, including attending or participating in a child marriage, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend up to one lakh rupees; provided that no woman shall be punishable with imprisonment.”
However, the law-enforcing agencies almost always look the other way.
Malappuram district, traditionally, has the largest number of child marriages in Kerala. Socio-cultural and religious norms compel teenage girls to get married and rear families. The directimpact of such early marriage is teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood, which are bad for women’s health.
More than 3 children
The study showed that 15.5 per cent of Kerala women in the reproductive age of 15-49 had more than three children. As much as 75 per cent of this group was from Malappuram, Kasaragod, Kannur and Wayanad.