SHE Teams Prevent 24 Child Marriages In Last 11 Months

Hyderabad: It is heartening to note that the SHE teams have been able to save young girls from being forced into child marriages. In the last 11 months SHE teams have stopped 24 child marriages. Based on the tip offs, the SHE teams from Rachakonda were able to prevent the marriages, which were happening on the outskirts of the city. Though not a mean achievement, the activists say that the number of child marriages happening is estimated to be more as many of them go unreported.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said that the majority of child marriages were prevented from the area Bhongir as it's a rural area. "Bhongir town is a rural area and child marriage cases are rampant in this region. Of the 24 child marriages, 15 were stopped in Bhongir town alone," he said. It has been reported that some cases even educated families were involved. The root cause for even the educated preferring to get their daughter's get married at a young age is because of marriage pressure catching up as the girls grown or due to the fear of their daughter might elope with someone. The punishment for the accused is up to two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The police commissioner added that they are trying to bring awareness by educating people. They have also put out permanent WhatsApp number 9490617111 for the public to inform and help in preventing child marriages.

Incidentally, last year Supreme Court released a figure of 23 million child marriage in the country. “The World Health Organisation, in a report dealing with the issue of child brides found that though 11 per cent of the births worldwide are among adolescents, they account for 23 per cent of the overall burden of diseases. Therefore, a child bride is more than doubly prone to health problems than a grown-up woman," the apex court asserted.