The child rights protection officers in the district have foiled the proposed marriage of an under-age girl.
A 16-year-old girl from Kottoor panchayat in the district was saved from being married off due to the timely intervention of the child rights protection officials of the Social Welfare Department. On a tip-off from local people that the Class XI girl’s parents were preparing for her wedding, the officials intervened.
District child protection officer Sheeba Mumtaz said the officials convinced the parents that marrying off daughters below the age of 18 was a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment.
Ms. Mumtaz said her staff were able to thwart attempts to marry off two other teenagers in recent weeks in the district. She said the intervention by the child marriage prohibition officers, who double as child development project officers, was found to be effective in checking under-age marriages. They could stop such marriages, if the engagement ceremony was over, by securing a court injunction. When the marriage of an under-age girl is solemnised, they ask the police to book those involved under the law against child sexual abuse.
In Kozhikode, child marriage was prevalent more among Muslims, while in Wayanad it was prevalent more among tribespeople. She added that there was a general fall in the mean age at marriage for both men and women across religious communities.
