Child marriages in Bengaluru fewer, but still a concern

Last week, authorities busted the wedding of a minor in Anepalya. The incident has highlighted the fact that the illegal practice of child marriage continues unchecked in Bengaluru.

Seemant Kumar Singh, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner who took over four months ago, states that such cases are rare in the city. However, Brinda Adige, women’s rights activist and director of Global Concerns India, shares that her team deals with child marriage cases regularly. “Not all of them are reported or stopped. They are happening, but come to our attention only when the girl has a problem, and it’s usually after the wedding has happened,” she tells Metrolife.

Her team receives at least one call per month seeking help. “Often, the families decide to get the girl and boy married because the girl gets pregnant. After the girl returns to her parents’ house for delivery, the boy’s family refuses to take her back. That is when the girl’s family approaches us for help,” Brinda shares.

Though numbers have come down due to awareness drives in schools, colleges, and communities where it is rampant, cases continue to come to their attention, says a source from the District Child Protection Officer. “Through the 1098 child helpline, we have been able to stop hundreds of cases. I would say about 80% of the cases are stopped,” he shares.

Sparsha Trust, a city-based child rights organisation, ran a helpline until 2024. Through the helpline, they were fielding at least 100-120 calls a year from people looking for help. Since they shut the helpline, they do not receive direct requests for help, but assist the Directorate of Child Protection (DCP) in rescuing children pushed into child marriage by offering shelter.

“Currently, our hostel in Devanahalli is occupied by about 15 girls who were rescued from child marriage,” says R Gopinath, managing trustee. He shares that in Bengaluru, the occurrence of child marriage is high in migrant labourer communities and rag pickers’ colonies. 

Mumtaz, who worked with the DCPO in Bengaluru during the pandemic, shares that the cases almost doubled in those years. Families were getting their children married off to relatives to avoid inter-caste and inter-religious unions. 

Brinda recalls a case where a 15-year-old girl was married off to her uncle aged 21, after the sudden death of both her parents. “These were middle-class, educated people who conducted a formal wedding with all the ceremonies and fanfare. None of the people invited to the wedding objected. Only one aunt was against it and called us for help. But the wedding was completed before we reached the venue, because the aunt was given wrong information about the dates of the wedding,” she shares.

She notes that many cases go unreported, because “we only know such a wedding has happened if they run into a problem”. Out of 10 weddings, her team manages to stop four. “Which is very less,” she says.