Three child marriages were foiled by the district administration of Nanded in Maharashtra and three girls were rescued at different places in a single day on Tuesday, April 2, an official said.
As reported by PTI, these marriages were foiled by the officials of the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department.
The district administration had received information that child marriages were going to be conducted at Mukhed and Kandhar talukas in the district, PTI added.
After receiving the information, the teams of the district administration and the WCD department proceeded to these places and rescued the girls by stopping their marriages, an official release said.
Child marriages still happen
Child marriages are still prevalent in several states of India. As per a recent data analysis, most of the girls rescued in India from these marriages were found to be between 15 and 18 years of age.
Recent data from the Ministry of Women and Child Development shows that across Maharashtra only, there were 13 reported instances of child marriage in 2018; 20 were reported in 2019; 50 were reported in 2020, and 82 in 2021.
The data also showed a significant peak in child marriages after COVID-19 in the rural districts of Maharashtra.
