According to the most recent demographic sample survey by the Union Home Ministry, Jharkhand has earned the bad reputation of having the greatest percentage of teenage girls getting married.
The survey conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner found that 5.8 percent of girls in Jharkhand get married before reaching majority.
“The percentage of females who got effectively married before reaching 18 years of age is 1.9 at the national level and varies from 0.0 in Kerala to 5.8 in Jharkhand,” the survey said.
According to the report, child weddings made up 3% of marriages in urban areas and 7.3% of marriages in rural Jharkhand.
The Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report provides estimates for a number of demographic, fertility, and mortality indices using information gathered from one of the largest demographic surveys ever conducted, which included a sample population of 8.4 million people.
The poll was done in 2020, and the results were released by the end of the previous month.
The only two states in the union where more than 50% of women get married before turning 21 are Jharkhand and West Bengal.
According to the poll, although 54.9% of girls in West Bengal get married before turning 21 years old, 54.6% of females in Jharkhand do so, compared to a national average of 29.5%.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 32 individuals were allegedly slain in Jharkhand in 2015, 27 in 2016, 19 in 2017, 18 in 2018, and 15 each in 2019 and 2020 on the basis of “witchcraft” claims.
A little girl who refused a man’s advances and was set ablaze recently brought attention to Jharkhand. On August 23, as the girl was sleeping, the principal suspect is suspected of dousing her in gasoline and lighting her on fire. Four days after the teenager’s injuries became fatal, the accused and the man who had given him fuel were detained.
On September 2, a 14-year-old tribal girl who had allegedly been sexually exploited by a guy under the guise of marriage was discovered hanging from a tree in Dumka. Her mother alleged that she was killed and then raped; the suspect has been taken into custody.
The National Commission for Women and National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights are both looking into the two incidences.
After surviving an acid assault, a teenage girl was sent by the state government to AIIMS in New Delhi for better care.
