Even the metropolitan city of Guwahati has not been immune to the evils of child marriage.
Though the number of child marriages has decreased nationwide, it is still a problem in some parts of Guwahati. In the last four months, there have been a total of 23 child marriages in the city, reports G Plus.
Among them, 10 elopement cases, 6 premarital cases, 5 postmarital cases, and 2 cases of trafficking for marriage have been recorded since April 2022. Since 2019, 81 instances of child marriage have been reported.
Guwahati has seen a 4.01% increase in the rate of child marriage this year. In effect since April 2022, the current rate is 7.96%. The rate was 3.95% in the previous year, from April 2021 to March 2022.
Speaking about the cases, a source from Childline Guwahati mentioned that elopement incidents make up the majority of the reported cases. This year, there were also cases of young girls becoming pregnant after marriage.
The source claimed in an interview with G Plus that Dhirenpara, Fatasil, and Garchuk localities report the majority of child marriage incidents.
Three cases were reported from Dhirenpara this year, along with two from Fatasil, two from Garchuk, two from Sonapur, and the remaining cases came from Basistha, Chandmari, Beharbari, Barbari, Hatigaon, and Geeta Nagar.
