Drive to reduce rampant child marriages in Bihar

Seventeen-year-old Rinki Kumar is a Class XII student in Biddupur block of Vaishali district, where she is pursuing a computer course apart from her intermediate studies.

When she was 15, her parents arranged her marriage much against her wish. When Rinki protested, her mother said she did not have enough money to send her for higher education and it would be better if she entered into wedlock. Rinki still protested. But her protest fell on deaf ears of her parents.

However, Rinki did not lose heart and narrated her tale of woes to elder sister Kamini when she visited her.

Kamini informed her mother that if she forced the 15-year-old to marry, the parents of the girl child could be jailed for two years. It was then that the wedding was called off.

Next time, if you find a girl child being wedded early or if you come across any case of ill-treatment for dowry, you can immediately alert Bihar government officials through a non-governmental organisation Gender Alliance.

An Android-based mobile application has been launched by the United Nation Population Fund (UNPF)-supported Gender Alliance to develop awareness throughout the state against child marriage, dowry and gender inequality. “The App Bandhan Tod (break the binds) has SOS feature or alert system which will help hapless girls who are being forced into early marriages. All they have to do is to sound alert through the app. The Gender Alliance officials would locate the victims and extend them all possible assistance,” Prashanti Tiwary, head of the organisation, told DH.

The mobile application was launched a fortnight before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave a call to eradicate child marriage and dowry on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.

SOS

In case of those girls who have not been using smart phones, they can also avail the service. “If her friend or relative has an Android phone, she can refer her friend/kin’s number who will receive a one time password (OTP). Once the OTP is entered in the app, the number is stored. If a girl with an ordinary phone is in danger, she can contact her kin/friend who, through the app on her smart phone, will generate an SOS alert for the girl in distress,”said Prashanti.

The app has short video training modules on child marriage, its ill-effects and ways to eradicate it. Besides, it has provisions on government programmes that seek to end child marriage.

It all started when Nitish launched a statewide campaign to end child marriage and dowry system in Bihar. “Nitish Kumar’s decision reaffirms his unflinching commitment to empower women in Bihar, a move that has seen Bihar traversing on a new growth trajectory,” said state chief of the UNPF, Nadeem Noor.

Incidentally, despite laws, the percentage of child marriage in Bihar is abnormally high at 50%. This is above the National Family Health Survey that has revealed 39.1% child marriage in the state. “While the average for child marriage in Bihar is 39.1%, our study in 340 blocks of the state found that the percentage was around 50%, much above the state average. The highest probability of child marriage was in Ghoswari block of Patna district with 66.81%,while the lowest probability was 11.81% for Lahladpur block in Saran district,” said Prashanti.

Bihar tops

The survey says while Bihar tops the list among the states with high incidence of child marriage, there is, at present, no data beyond district level for government or policy makers to concentrate their actions. “The study also lists various factors that have been influencing rise and fall in incidences of child marriage. The study is a powerful tool that will surely help the chief minister to focus attention in 340 blocks to make visible changes with less resources and time,” she added.

The National Family Health Survey-4, however, says that the percentage of child marriage in Bihar has fallen from 71% in 1998-99 to 39.1% in 2015-16. As per the NFHS-4 statistics, Supaul district in Bihar has recorded the highest incidence of child marriage (56.9%) while Kishanganj recorded the lowest 24.4%.

Nitish, however, has vowed to bring down the percentage even further. In fact, on October 2, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, he declared war against the two social evils--child marriage and dowry. “Just don’t attend the wedding where child marriage or dowry is involved,” he exhorted everyone while making an appeal to form a human chain on January 21, 2018 in support of his fight against social evils. The human chain will be similar to the one which was formed on January 21, 2017 in support of prohibition and de-addiction.

“Bihar is at the 26th position in the country in number of crimes against women. But it ranks second – after Uttar Pradesh-- in dowry-related crimes. So on the occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we have waged a war against these two social evils - child marriage and dowry – to show our determination towards Bapu’s thoughts and dedication towards people of Bihar,” said Nitish, who last year enforced prohibition in Bihar thereby making it a dry state.