16 year old girl’s marriage stopped by the team
Gariaband. With the vigilance of the Women and Child Development Department, child marriage was prevented in a village of Mainpur development block. According to the information received through telephone, Mr. Gopal Singh Kanwar (Social Worker) from Mission Vatsalya (Mbavi) Gariaband and Nand Kumar Nayak (Team Member) from Child Line 1098 and Dhawalpur Chowki (Mainpur Police Station) reached the child marriage venue and inquired. According to the filing, the child marriage was stopped after verifying the age of the girl child. Under the supervision and direction of District Child Protection Officer Anil Dwivedi, the families of both were explained. Along with this, it was advised to get married only after the prescribed age.
Program Officer of Women and Child Development Department Ashok Pandey said that information was received over telephone that preparations were going on for child marriage on June 28 in a village under Mainpur development block. The joint team of District Child Protection Unit (DCU) and Child Line reached the spot and verified the age of the girl on the basis of documents related to the age of the girl, class 5th and 8th marksheet. In which the age of the girl child was found to be 16 years and 11 months. The marriage of the girl was fixed on June 28, 2023.
According to the Child Marriage Prohibition Act 2006, it is mandatory for the girl to be 18 years old and the boy to be 21 years old for marriage. In the situation of marrying or getting a woman/man married below the prescribed age, all the people involved and accomplices come under the category of crime. Those who have a provision to be punished with rigorous imprisonment up to 02 years and a fine of Rs. 01 lakh or both. Taking advance action by the team of District Child Protection Unit, the girl child, her parents and family members and villagers were advised to get married only after the girl child completes 18 years of age. Everyone agreed to the suggestion of the Child Marriage Prevention Team. The team urged the present villagers to get married only after the prescribed age limit. So that it can contribute to better improvement in education, health, malnutrition, family planning etc. of boys and girls.
