Rally against
child marriage: KSSP..THE HINDU
SOCIAL ISSUE: Amar,
child specialist, addressing a discussion on ‘Child marriage’, organised by the
Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.— Photo: S.
Mahinsha
: Speakers at a discussion on
‘Whether to legitimise child marriage’ here on Wednesday called for a sustained
campaign to bring to public domain the ill-effects of allowing girls to marry
at a young age and stressed the need for “physical” intervention by socially
oriented organisations to prevent child marriage.
In her opening remarks, the former
president of Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) T. P Radhamoni said the
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 treats marriage of young girls as a
non-bailable and cognizable offence but still if incidents of child marriage
take place, the reasons could be ascertained. The need of the hour was to
strengthen implementation of the Act and also to make physical intervention by
organisations to prevent such incidents.
The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad,
which organised the discussion, in a survey found that women were aware of the
Act. Some of the parents interviewed in the survey said they had married off
their daughters at an early age as it would be difficult to find a suitable
match at a later age.
They also cited the demand for dowry
as one of the reasons.
Physical intervention, she explained,
did not mean staging a protest before a hall where a child marriage was solemnized but informing the law enforcement agencies, including the police and
also at the governmental level.
She called upon Parishad volunteers
to create awareness oft the perils of child marriage.
Explaining about the health hazards
of child marriage, Amar, a child specialist, said girls married at a young age
suffer general, reproductive and mental health deterioration. Pregnancy poses
many challenge to women and child marriage enhances health risk, he added.
A child has the right to be a child
He or She has to grow and make decisions
Every parent should human dignity
And allow the child to enjoy childhood
Let the life cycle takes its own course
Let the child enjoy,grow wise and become a mother
Varma
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