‘Print bridal couple’s birthdates on wedding invites’, orders Child Rights Commission

Earlier this month, a sobering fact came to light through an NGO: that the Solapur municipal corporation had registered the deliveries of 86 minors in government hospitals in 2025-26. It was also found that despite the laws in this regard, the state administration did not register complaints or initiate action against the child marriages and likely rape

MUMBAI: Taking serious note of the increasing child marriages in the state and the pregnancies of 86 minor girls in Solapur, the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) has asked the state government to make it mandatory for wedding invitations to carry the birthdates of both groom and bride. The commission has also asked the administration to investigate the 86 recent cases of pregnancy to find out if there was any sexual abuse involved.

Jamshedpur,Jharkhand,INDIA,July 08: File photo of a minor girl saved from child marriage in Jamshedpur July 08,2018-(Photo by Manoj Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Earlier this month, a sobering fact came to light through an NGO: that the Solapur municipal corporation had registered the deliveries of 86 minors in government hospitals in 2025-26. It was also found that despite the laws in this regard, the state administration did not register complaints or initiate action against the child marriages and likely rape. The Solapur collector then ordered an inquiry and asked the administration to verify the age of the girls and check if they were subjected to sexual assault. So far, 35 have been found to be minors and married as children.

While conducting a hearing at its Worli office on the issue, the MSCPCR recommended that the people responsible be booked and corrective measures be taken to prevent such cases in future. It has directed a special joint task force led by the collector and comprising officials from the concerned departments to be set up to conduct a thorough investigation into all 86 suspected cases, fix accountability and propose strict action.

“The commission has directed the Solapur administration to look into every aspect related to the case from sexual abuse, violation of child marriage laws, the POCSO and Juvenile Justice acts and the rehabilitation of the girls among others. The report has to be submitted in 45 days, and we are planning to visit Solapur to conduct a review,” said MSCPCR member Sanjay Lakhe-Patil.

Lakhe-Patil said that the commission had also decided to recommend the mandatory printing of the bride’s and groom’s birthdates on wedding invitation cards. “The Rajasthan government has made it compulsory and this step has had a positive impact,” he said. “We are also recommending that awareness campaigns be conducted across the state to prevent child marriages and child sexual abuse in such marriages. The directives have been given in the wake of the spiralling child marriages in Marathwada and other districts like Solapur.”

Lakhe-Patil said the commission was a statutory body and its directives were followed by the government. Officials from the women and child welfare department corroborated this. “Although the orders are not strictly binding on the government, they carry authority and are expected to be acted upon,” said an official. “The commission has the powers to order an investigation, summon people and call for documents as in a civil court.”

The information on the 86 minor girls delivering in government hospitals was revealed in a letter to the Mahatma Phule Samaj Sewa Mandal, an NGO working to prevent child marriage and child labour. “The case has opened a can of worms, as government officials have been found guilty at every step,” said the NGO’s president Pramod Zinjade. “The laws mandate that child marriages and deliveries of minors be reported to the authorities, but nobody from village- and tehsil-level officials to medical staff in government hospitals did this. No cases were registered. Now the district administration has swung into action and started registering cases. At least 10 FIRs have been filed in the last couple of weeks.”

On April 19, on Akshay Tritiya, which is considered auspicious for weddings, the state government prevented 32 child marriages in a special operation across the state.