Child marriage is a violation of human rights, and hence every child has the right to be protected form this practice having devastating consequences not only for individual girl but the society at large. Though becoming less common, one in every three child brides in the world are from India. Neither the Union Government nor the state governments seem to be able to put brake on this human rights violation. Nearly one in four young women in the country between 20 and 24 years, about 23 per cent, were either married or in union before their 18th birth day, though according to law, minimum age at which a girl is allowed to marry is 18 years. Since India has now become largest populated country in the world with 1.42 billion population, the number of child brides at 23 per cent is too big.

Given the poor healthcare facilities, across the states in the country it poses some serious problem on account of their giving birth to a child during adolescence. Most of the child brides are from the poor families and have little education, which make the lives of both mother and child difficult and many of the girls deliver prematurely. No wonder India tops in mother and child mortality and also in giving premature births in the world. Many other challenges are also just related to childhood brides.

In the latest update on profiling progress made in India towards elimination of child marriage by 2030 (SDG-5), UNICEF, has said that India accounts for 34 per cent of global child brides. All other countries in South Asia put together, there are only 11 per cent of child brides, while in resto of the world it is 55 per cent. It has also pointed out that the vast majority of young women married during childhood gave birth before they completed adolescence – 84 per cent who married before 15 years of age and 77 per cent who married between 15 and 18 years of age. Even among those who married at or after 18 years, 14 per cent gave birth before completion of their adolescence at 19.

Moreover, child brides may have many children to care for at a young age. About 26 per cent of girls married before age of 15 have been found to have three of more children. Only 12 and 2 per cent women are in this category who married during their 15-18 years or after 18 years respectively.

Child brides face challenges in continuing their education. While the majority of unmarried girls are in school, fewer than 2 in 10 married girls continue to attend. About 85 per cent child brides are out of school, while 78 per cent girls attend schools who are not married. Child brides are also more likely to report that wife-beating in justified, and to experience such violence themselves.

Five states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh – have highest share of girls and women who were married in childhood. Uttar Pradesh is home to the largest number of child brides in India.

Three states – West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura – have highest rate of child marriages where about 40 per cent of young women were married before turning 18.

In percentage term West Bengal has highest share of child brides, in the age group 20-24 years, at 42 per cent followed by Bihar 41, Tripura 40, and Jharkhand and Assam 32 per cent each. The four states with lowest percentage of child brides are Lakshadweep 1 per cent, Ladakh 3 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh 5 per cent.

Women who married decades ago and now are adults were also counted as child brides since child marriage has lifelong consequences for girls and their families, with reverberations that span generations.

Child brides below the age of 20 years are about 3 per cent. About 14 per cent are in the age group 20-29 years, 20 per cent in the age group 30-39 years, 20 per cent in the age group 40-49 years, 18 per cent in the age group 50-59 years, 14 per cent in the age group 60-69 years, and 10 per cent above 70 years of age.

Girls most at risk of becoming child bride are mostly from three backgrounds – those who live in poorer households, have less education, and reside in rural areas. About 40 per cent child brides are from the poorest families while 8 per cent come from the richest and about 48 per cent child brides have no education and 43 per cent have only primary education. In rural areas 27 per cent of girls are at risk of being married off in childhood while it is 15 per cetn in urban areas.

Prevalence of child marriage is found across religions and castes. Among Muslims child brides are 26 per cent, followed by 23 per cent among Hindus, 16 per cent among Buddhists and 15 per cent among Christians. Among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes child brides are 26 per cent each, followed by 22 per cent among OBCs.

The UNICEF update has said that even with doubling of progress made in the past 10 years, 1 in 10 young women will have married in childhood in India in 2030.