15 ‘Child Marriages’ Prevented In Pune In Last 1 Year

Pune, 3rd May 2022: The administration has succeeded in preventing 15 child marriages in the Pune district during the last year.

Collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh said, ” Efforts are being made at various levels to prevent child marriage in the district.”

According to reports, from April 2021 to April 2022, the administration succeeded in preventing 1,338 child marriages in the state and 15 in the Pune district. Large wedding ceremonies are taking place after the corona restrictions were relaxed.

Arranging child marriage is a non-bailable offence under the Prevention of Child Marriage Act 2006. According to the law, the offence carries a fine of Rs one lakh and two years of hard labour. For the implementation of the law, Gram Sevaks in rural areas and Child Development Project Officers in urban areas have been appointed as Child Marriage Prevention Officers.

Regarding the prevention of child marriage in the district, all the administrative agencies should be vigilant and take necessary action.

Collector Deshmukh has given instructions to all tehsildars, group development officers, child development project officers and police.

It is also notified that village-level bodies like Gram Bal Samrakshan Samiti, Gram Sevak, Sarpanch, Police Patil, Anganwadi Sevika, Shikshak etc. should prevent child marriage.

District Collector has appealed to citizens stating, “Citizens should immediately inform about child marriage on Child Helpline number 1098.”