Over 10,000 child marriages attempted in 5 years in Karnataka

Between April 2017 and March 2022, theKarnatakagovernment received complaints or tip-offs about 10,352 attempts of child marriage and 9,261 (about 90%) were prevented. In all, 860 FIRs were registered against people involved in getting minors married or at least tried it in the same period.

Experts and officials point out that most child marriages occur largely due to POVERTY, illiteracy, superstition or to ease what elders see as their burden of having a girl child.

Data of the Karnataka Women and child development department shows that 1,091 child marriages actually took place.

Of the 10,352 cases, most (3,007) were between April 2020 and March 2021, followed by the next 12 months that saw 2,819 cases. While these two years account for over 56% of all cases, the other three years (April 2017 to March 2020)together saw 4,526 cases.