K'taka reported highest child marriages in 2017: Govt

Karnataka reported the highest number of the cases of child marriage in the country in 2017, followed by Assam and Tamil Nadu, the Government told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Out of a total of 395 cases of child marriage in the country in 2017, as many as 65 cases came from Karnataka, 58 from Assam and 55 from Tamil Nadu as per the National Crime Records Bureau reports, Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry Smriti Irani said while replying to a question in the Upper House.

Tamil Nadu topped the chart in the previous four years with the State reporting as many as 56 cases in 2013, 47 in 2014, 77 in 2015 and 55 in 2016.

Over 1,500 cases of child marriage have been reported in the country between 2013 and 2017, the minister said while presenting a five-year data.

As many as 222 cases were recorded in the country in 2013, 280 in 2014, 293 in 2015 and 326 in 2016.

While the number of child marriage cases in Karnataka was 26 in 2013, the State reported 44 such cases in 2014, 35 in 2015, 51 in 2016.

Irani had on Monday said that the government was considering bringing amendments to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act to make reporting of child marriages mandatory for the agencies concerned.