Introduction
There is no single cause of child marriage. The reasons behind this continuing practice are manifold.
Child marriages are deeply entrenched in the socio-economic context of backwardness, poverty,
illiteracy, patriarchy and feudalism, falling sex-ratio, backward status of women in general,
characterized by social malpractices like down, female foeticide and infanticide and also certain
traditional / cultural / religious practices in each region. Child marriage is a marriage of individuals
before they attain the age of adulthood. The Indian law recognizes 18 years for girls and 21 years for
boys as the age of adulthood for the purpose of marriage. Any marriage before this minimum valid
age is termed as child marriage.
Historical overview
The ancient Indian literature indicates no prevalence of childmarriage at that time. The most popular
form of marriage was the Swayamvara where grooms assembled at the bride’ s house and the bride
selected her spouse. Swayamvara can be translated as self-selection of one’s husband (Swayam =
self, Vara = husband.) Instances of the Swayamvara ceremony are found in our national epics, the
Ramayana and Mahabharata. Various types of marriages were then prevalant in ancient India:
Gandharva Vivaha (love marriage), Asura Viviha (marriage by abduction) etc. but, among these Bal-
Viviha is conspicuous by its absence, which refutes the argument that the custom of child marriage
stemmed from tradition and religious practices. The invasions, war and expansion of territory trailed
the trends of the times. The established structures and practices were being disturbed by the new
rulers who brought in their own ideas and rules. Law and order was not yet a universal phenomenon
and arbitrary powers were concentrated in the hands of a few. The status of women deteriorated
from bad to worse, as they were being exchanged as gifts, concubines and slaves. This slowly led to a
downfall in the status of women, resulting in the practices like wearing of the veil and isolating
women from the rest of society. During this time, customs like Sati, denigrating the birth of a female
baby and female infanticide, were spawned. The practice of child marriage reached its height, so
that guardians could get rid of this insecurity as soon as possible. Hence parents sought to dispense
with the responsibilities of their daughters by getting them married before they reached
marriageable age. Till the 1860’s, girls were getting married below the ages of eight or nine years.
Socio-reform religious movements, such as the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj, pioneered work
against child marriage. The contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy in curbing the ill practices of
marriage cannot be neglected. Late in the 1860’s, some success was achieved when the Indian Penal
Code made provision against child marriage.
EFFECT OF CHILD MARRIAGE
It is violation of children’s right to personal freedom and growth and specifically their right to decide
their own marriage. The practice of child marriage takes a heavy toll on the physical, intellectual,
psychological and emotional aspects of the children involved. Given the patriarchal nature of society,
young girls suffer the most under this practice.
Medical effect
Child marriage continues the vicious circle of persistent poverty, high illiteracy, high incidence of
infectious diseases – including HIV/ AIDS, malnutrition, elevated child mortality rate, high birth rate,
high maternal mortality rate, low life-expectancy of women, reinforcement of the subordinate status
of women and most significantly, the inter-generational cycles of all of these. Some of the key effects
of child marriages are high fertility rates (early marriage leads to increased span of child-bearing
period), adolescent health determinants for pregnancy and its fallouts, low use of contraceptive
services, accessibility to education and exposure to mass media, dropout rates in schools for both
boys and girls, infant mortality and maternal mortality rates and so on. The problems are
compounded by factors such as poverty and lack of access to medical care.
Gender Based Violence
The patriarchal nature of society makes women, especially in the age group 15-19 years, highly
susceptible to gender based violence. Hence, they are often subjected to physical or sexual abuse.
They are also most likely to justify physical mistreatment for reasons ranging from moral character
to bad cooking. Of the women surveyed under NFHS 2, in the age group 15-19 years, a large number
– 61.1% – justified at least one reason for wife beating. 15.4% reported that they had been physically
mistreated since the age of 15. However, their numbers, as compared to those of older women are
likely to be lower since they have been exposed to violence for a lesser number of years. However,
this does not make them less susceptible, since the NFHS 2 survey reveals, that in the last 12
months, the percentage (11.5%) of women in the age group15-19 years, who were beaten or
physically mistreated was comparable to that for older women.
Child Trafficking
Child marriage is also responsible for the rise in trafficking of women. Studies in child trafficking have
shown that child marriage is used as a legal instrument for achieving illegal trafficking. Children are
married for a day or two and then trafficked and sold for various purposes, including sexual
exploitation and prostitution. This establishes an inextricable link between child trafficking and child
marriage. It has been revealed that Child Marriage is used as a mode to increase trafficking,
prostitution and bonded labour. Young girls are being trafficked from states like West Bengal, Assam,
Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where they are married young, and called Peru. The women in this
situation are sold for large amounts of money. A study conducted by HAQ, showed that girls from
West Bengal were trafficked to remote regions such as Kashmir. A large number of girls were being
trafficked from Bengal to J&K mainly for the purpose of marrying them to older men or forcing them
into prostitution after marriage. Similarly, in South India the entire tradition of Devadasi is being
used as a tool for the trafficking women. Child marriages, further resulting in child trafficking are
used as methods of selling women as cheap labor. Children are married, trafficked and sent to work
in places like Delhi, Haryana, U.P. and Calcutta. Similar practices are also rampant in the Badyar
district of Orissa, especially the tribal areas where child marriage results in child trafficking and the
children are then exchanged for money.
INADEQUACIES IN THE LAW AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM
The Child Marriage Restraint Act was brought into force to stop the customary practice of child
marriage. The Act was first introduced in 1929 and has undergone various changes largely in the
form of increasing the age of marriage. The object is to eliminate this evil practice, which has the
potential of endangering the life and health of a female child – unable to withstand the stress and
strains of married life – and to avoid the early deaths of these minor mothers.