Balika Badhu syndrome lingers, NCRB 2018 ranks Odisha 6th in child marriages!

Bhubaneswar: Even as Odisha ranks among top-10 states in prevalence of child marriages, State police could rescue only 22 victims under Prohibition of Child Marriages (PCM) Act in 2018.

In contrast, Tamil Nadu, which is among top-10 low child marriage incidence states in country, registered a high of 67 cases.

As per NCRB report 2018, Odisha ranked sixth in country in cases registered under PCM Act. What seems consoling is cases registered under PCMA in Odisha are clocking a rise. In 2015, PCMA cases stood at mere 1 which went up to 15 in 2016, 17 in 2017 and 22 in 2018.

However, Women and Child Development Secretary Anu Garg claimed that Odisha had foiled as many as 411 child marriages in 2019.

It's worth mentioning here that a regional conference on child marriages at Bhubaneswar in 2018, which was also attended by incumbent Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, the then Chief Secretary Aditya Padhi had candidly admitted that cases registered under PCMA is very low in Odisha.

In contrast, Assam, a state with high prevalence of child marriage, had registered a whopping 88 cases under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) in 2018.

Consider a comparison between Assam and Odisha: As per NFHS-4, prevalence of child marriage in Assam is 32.6 per cent vis-a-vis Odisha's 21.3 per cent. Census 2011 data puts the prevalence rate in Assam at 16.5 per cent vis-a-vis 12.3 per cent in Odisha.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu, where the prevalence rate is 15.7 per cent, had registered 67 cases under PCMA in 2018.

Significantly, in prevalence rate, Odisha ranked at number 10; whereas TN ranked among top-10 states having low incidence of child marriage.

Devi lies in district-wise prevalence details. A total of 24 districts in State have more than 10 per cent girls who get married prior to age-bar of 18 years.

As per Census-2011, in Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur the prevalence is 19-20 per cent; Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Rayagada at around 17-16 per cent and Angul, Baleswar, Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Kandhamal, Dhenkanal and Boudh at 13-15 per cent.

According to NFHS-4 data, Malkangiri has highest (39 pc) prevalence rate in State, and is followed by Nabarangpur, Mayurbhanj, Koraput and Rayagada, where over 33 per cent girls get married prior to 18-years. In Nayagarh, Ganjam, Keonjhar, Balasore, Dhenkanal and Gajapati, the proportion is at around 25 per cent.

Earlier, NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) report makes a big revelation. The report claimed girl child trafficking also plays a major role in increased incidences of child marriages, where it finds girls were kidnapped for sole purpose of being compelled to marry.

According to the NCRB-2018 report,  a total of 76 girl children were kidnapped for the said purpose alone in Odisha. And another 83 cases were registered under section 366 (a) IPC, which is related with procurement of girl.

Significantly, such incidents have come from the districts like Mayurbhanj, Anugul, Kandhamal and Baleswar, which, incidentally, have high child marriage incidences.

Factors behind lower cases under PCMA: Absence of full-time Child Marriage Prevention Officers (CMPOs) in burdensome districts, lack of coordination between police and Child Welfare Committees (CWCs).

Only recently, State government has launched a Strategic Action Plan (SAP) to curb child marriages in Odisha. It aims at reducing the incidence of child marriage from 21.3 pc to 10 pc by 2024