13 Child Marriages Stopped Across Maharashtra

Maharashtra’s women and child development department said it stopped 13 child marriages during Akshaya Tritiya, a festival date that officials treated as high risk for underage weddings. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The department said the interventions happened on Sunday, April 19, after special statewide monitoring and online coordination were set up under minister of state Meghna Bordikar. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Deccan Herald reported the stopped marriages were identified across districts including Ahilyanagar and Yavatmal, and officials said violators could face legal action. (deccanherald.com) Akshaya Tritiya is widely seen as an auspicious day for weddings, and state agencies in western and northern India regularly increase surveillance around it because families sometimes use the date to arrange child marriages. (devdiscourse.com) India’s Prohibition of Child Marriage Act defines a child as a male under 21 or a female under 18, and it bars the solemnization of such marriages. (indiacode.nic.in) The law has not ended the practice in Maharashtra. The National Family Health Survey-5 found that 22% of women in the state aged 20 to 24 had married before age 18, down from 26% in NFHS-4. (preview.dhsprogram.com) United Nations Children’s Fund says child marriage raises the risk of girls leaving school and facing violence, exploitation, and early pregnancy, which is why state prevention drives focus on stopping ceremonies before they happen. (unicef.org) The Maharashtra action fits that pattern: officials concentrated resources on one festival day, intercepted 13 planned weddings, and used the law to keep minors out of marriage. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)