Awareness campaign against child marriage launched

An awareness campaign about the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2016 and its amendments will be created among the masses with help of a LED-screen mounted vehicle, Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Mayor Premananda Shetty said on Sunday.

He was addressing a gathering after launching a campaign against child marriage at a programme organised by Dakshina Kannada district administration, Zilla Panchayat and the women and child welfare department at the DC complex in Mangaluru.

The mayor said the LED-screen mounted vehicle will highlight the negative fallout of such early and forced marriages.

As child marriages result in an increase in child and maternal mortalities, the Lok Sabha had strengthened this Act in 2021, he said.

Dakshina Kannada ZP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Kumar said that as per the government’s order the campaign will be spread over nine days.

The campaign is being launched to ensure effective implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, he added.

“When society is sensitised about the Act, such early and forced marriages will end soon,” said Dr Kumar.

During the previous year, one child marriage was reported in the district. As education is a solution to such early marriages, girl children should be educated in order to end child marriages, he said.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Dr Rajendra K V said that child marriage which robs the childhood of children is the biggest social evil.

The LED-screen mounted vehicle will visit 52 places across the district and ensure that there is large scale awareness about the disadvantages of child marriage, he added.

Preventing child marriages is also the responsibility of the Gram Panchayat, revenue, health departments, each government employee, social worker and every citizen. Child marriage is a crime and those helping such marriages are also violating the law and criminal cases will be filed against such people, he stressed.

Every child should be aware of the Act against child marriage and every teacher should act as a protector of the rights of girl children by ascertaining reasons behind the dropout of girl students, he said.

MLC B M Farooq regretted that even after the implementation of the Act, child marriages were still rampant.

He appealed to the district administration to prevent such child marriages with the help of social pressure groups and ensure that stringent punishment is awarded to those found violating the Act.

MLC Manjunath Bhandary, women and child welfare department deputy director Papabovi, among others, were also present.

The deputy commissioner led the gathering in taking a pledge. A signature campaign against child marriage was also conducted on the spot.

Prior to the launch of the campaign, women and students took out a rally to create awareness about the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.