Maharashtra, Rajasthan record highest child marriage cases
Maharashtra and Rajasthan recorded the highest number of cases of child marriage, according to a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights' report. Of the 70 districts identified with high incidents of child marriage, 17 are in Maharashtra, followed by 13 in Rajasthan. Notably, 326 child marriages were reported in 2016, up from the 293 cases in 2015.
Latest government data show that Maharashtra tops the list in child marriage, followed by Rajasthan. Some 17 districts of Maharashtra, including Latur, Mumbai and Pune have reported high instances of child marriage. In Rajasthan, 13 districts, including Jaipur, Ajmer and Bhilwara, have reported increasing incidents of child marriage.The figures, highlighting the prevalence of child marriage, were stated by MoS, women and child development, Krishna Raj in answer to questions posed in Lok Sabha. The data was collected by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights for analysing the situation of child marriages in India based on Census 2011. Some 70 districts out of 640 were identified with high instances of child marriage by the Commission.As compared to 280 in 2014 and 293 in 2015, incidents of child marriage have shot up to 326 in the last year. The situation remains grim in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka which also witnessed a spike in child marriage in the last three years.