Bengal to crack down on child marriages, underage institutional deliveries

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, has threatened to take strong action, including arrest, against those offenders found involved in child marriages and underage institutional births of babies.

Rattled by the spurt in the number of cases related to child marriage and underage institutional deliveries across West Bengal, the government has decided to take stern actions like arrest of offenders and withholding government benefits.

Bengal tops India in child marriage and underage institutional delivery.

While talking to reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna following a Cabinet meeting held on Monday, the Chief Minister said 60,000 instances of underage institutional delivery were reported in the first six months of this year, till June 30, and Murshidabad district topped the list with nearly 13,000 such cases in the state.

In India, the minimum age for a female must be 18 for marriage, while it is 21 for a male.

Suvendu alleged that the previous Trinamool Congress government did not share data on these cases with the Central government.

"Bengal tops India in child marriage and institutional childbirths by underage girls. Nearly 60,000 teenage institutional deliveries were reported by the state's Health Department between January 1 and June 30," he said.

Giving data, he said 12,847 institutional childbirths by underage girls were recorded in Murshidabad district alone, followed by South 24 Parganas at 4,178.

He said that provisions of the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act will be strictly applied against offenders to curb the menace.

According to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006, a man marrying before turning 21, and those found guilty of assisting the crime, can face a jail term of two years or a penalty of Rs 1 lakh.

He said that the government would conduct door-to-door drives across the state to prevent child marriages and childbirths.

"Police action will be initiated, and arrests will be made," the Chief Minister said, pointing out that entering into a physical relationship with a girl below 18 years of age attracts action under the Pocso, with prison terms ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment and even the death penalty.

"The state health department will issue a show-cause notice to the offenders, especially the husband, who will have to provide documentary evidence within a month that both he and his 'wife' are adults as per law. If he fails to do so, the DGP (Director General of police), who is sitting right next to me, will take action as per the provisions of the BNS."

He also said that his government would also stop benefits to these families under both Central and state government welfare schemes. The priest or the kazi who formalised the 'marriage' will also face strong punitive actions.

He said the number of such cases is so large that all jails in the state will not be able to accommodate the offenders.