Pune rural police prevent 11 child marriages in ’22; ’20 count was 0

PUNE The Pune rural police through its Bharosa cell have successfully stopped as many as 11 child marriages in 2022 and lodged three FIRs against the violators

PUNE The Pune rural police through its Bharosa cell have successfully stopped as many as 11 child marriages in 2022 and lodged three FIRs against the violators. In 2021, two child marriages were stopped and seven FIRs were lodged. In 2020, three FIRs were lodged while no efforts were made to stop child marriages under the jurisdiction of the rural police. The initiative has been spearheaded by the rural police under the guidance of rural SP Dr Abhinav Deshmukh.

The Pune rural police through its Bharosa cell have successfully stopped as many as 11 child marriages in 2022 and lodged three FIRs against the violators (HT FILE PHOTO)

A senior Bharosa cell official said that there was an overall dip in preventing such crimes in 2020 due to the pandemic. To be sure, this was likely a result of the pandemic, during which time, most police teams were deployed in maintaining law and order and ensuring lockdown measures were in place.

Rural SP Dr Deshmukh said, “The rural police counsels the families and ensures that they understand the law and the importance of education of the girl-child. Also, consistent efforts are made by the department to stop child marriages that are yielding good results.”

The Bharosa cell provides counseling and legal assistance to children, women and elderly people, and has been taking proactive action to stop child marriages from taking place in their jurisdiction. The cell receives information from local villagers or sometimes from various social organisations and groups who inform them about child marriages in advance for necessary legal action. The cell members comprise both male and female staff who are trained in counseling and sensitising family members about the social, personal and legal ramifications of child marriage and cautioning them against FIRs under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. The cell members play a key role in shaping the mindset of the family members as regards the importance of girls completing their education or vocational training which would make them independent and able to take up a profession of choice.

Most recently, child marriages were stopped from taking place in the Vadaj village of Junnar taluka, Pune district, on May 10. After receiving prior information about the same, the Junnar police, under the guidance of the district woman and child development officer, Pune; taluka-level protection officer A K Salunkhe; and taluka-level child marriage prevention officer N D Kolhe reached the marriage venue. They found that the marriages of two girls were taking place in the same tent in the presence of more than 500 people. The police stopped the marriages before the ceremonies could take place and counseled the elders. The parents of both the brides and bridegrooms gave a written statement that they would not marry their daughters till they turned 18.

Baramati MP Supriya Sule took to Twitter and lauded the efforts of the Pune rural police in stopping the practice of child marriage. “The steps taken by the rural police in curbing child marriage are commendable and worth appreciation,” the parliamentarian wrote on her Twitter account.

Currently, the legal age for marriage in India is 18 for women and 21 for men. Recently, the union cabinet proposed to raise the legal age for marriage for women to 21.

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April 2020

The Bombay high court (HC) asked the state government to explain the steps taken to prohibit child marriages in Maharashtra. The court observed that there were hardly any FIRs registered against prevailing child marriages in the state.

A public interest litigation (PIL) highlighting the prevalence of child marriages in the state and the failure of the authorities to curb the same was filed by Pune-based human rights advocate Asim Sarode. Sarode said that around one lakh minor girls have been married in Maharashtra. In light of this, Sarode submitted that it was important to involve the state child rights commissions to implement the law in all 36 districts of Maharashtra.

He also referred to news articles that showed that in certain districts, the number of child marriages had reached 1,500 in the past two years, prompting the court to question why the number of FIRs did not reflect the number of actual cases.