Hyderabad: India continues to report child marriage cases and Telangana ranks 12 in the country in terms of under-age children marriage, announced Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s Children’s Foundation (KSCF) in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s Children’s Foundation kick-started their upcoming “Child Marriage Free India” campaign across several cities in India. Acting on the appeal by Kailash Satyarthi for a sustained campaign across the country to make India child marriage-free, the KSCF has commenced nationwide consultations.

The foundation co-organised the consultation with the Telangana State Legal Services Authority (SLSA). Among the key points discussed by the participants were appointment of Child Marriage Prohibition Officer (CMPO), mandatory FIR registration in cases of child marriage and incentivization of parents to motivate them to not marry their under-age children. They also sought to link child marriage with Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act and POCSO Act for penalising the perpetrators of crime.

Around 2.8 lakh children were married off before turning 18, according to Census 2011 report. The National Family Health Survey-V (NFHS 2019-21) reports that nationally 23.3 percent women between the age group of 20-24 were married off before attaining the age of 18. Telangana reported 23.5 per cent of women in the same age group were married before the age of 18.

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Speaking on the occasion, Dhananjay Tingal, Executive Director of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, highlighted the adverse impact of child marriage on children and why we must act to stop the social evil.

“Child marriage is an evil existing in our society and should be looked as a crime against children. It obstructs the complete development of children. All stakeholders like government agencies and law enforcement agencies must make a collective effort to stop the practice.

In this regard, our organisation under the leadership of Kailash Satyarthi will work closely with the state government, law enforcement agencies and civil society groups towards a child-marriage-free Telangana, ” Dhananjay said.