Over 3.93 Lakh Child Marriages Stopped In India

By Santu Das

New Delhi: More than 3.93 lakh child marriages have been stopped /prevented in India from Ocober 2022 to August 2025, a data shared by Just Rights for Children (JRC), which has been working across the country for the rights of children, claimed on Saturday.

Through its Child Marriage Free India (CMFI), the JRC, which has a network of over 250 NGOs working across 451 districts across India, has been targeting awareness generation through sensitisation and legal action to stop child marriage. The campaign prevents child marriage at the community level through awareness and empowerment programs, and by directly stopping planned child marriages.

Experts said the problem of child marriage in India is a matter of considerable concern as it robs children of essential rights, including access to good health, nutrition, and education.

"Moreover, early marriage heightens the risk of girls facing violence, abuse, and exploitation," they added.

Among the States, which has high prevalent rate of child marriages as per the National Family Health Survey 5 includes West Bengal, Bihar, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam. These states have more than the national prevalence of the child marriage. This campaign has led to reduction of child marriages in these states, as claimed by the JRC.

According to the data issued by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, the prevalence of child marriage in the country has reduced to almost half from 47 per cent to 23.3 per cent since the enactment of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 has been enacted to prevent and combat child marriages, as well as to impose penalties on those involved in the solemnisation of such marriages.

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has been taking several initiatives including 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat' campaign, which focuses on making India child marriage free.

According to the data issued by the JRC, all together 3,93,246 child marriages have been stopped/prevented across the country from October 2022 to August 2025.

Out of these, Jharkhand reported the highest number of child marriages prevented/stopped. The number stood at 1,01,907. Bihar reported the second highest with the total number 48,475, followed by Madhya Pradesh 33,158, Rajasthan 31,186, Uttar Pradesh 30,730, West Bengal 23,866 and Assam 12,618, it claimed.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Bidhan Chandra Singh, National Coordinator, CMFI, a part of the global campaign to end child marriage said, "The aim of the campaign is two-fold with a single goal of creating a Child Marriage Free India through behaviour change by preventing child marriage by education and awareness, ensuring enforcement of law against child marriage. Key initiatives include mass mobilisation and faith leaders engagement."

He said the CMFI has worked extensively with priests, qazis, purohits, pastors, and other religious leaders to ensure that they solemnise only legal marriages. Faith leaders have publicly declared that child marriage is against both law and dharma, making them powerful voices in villages and towns.

Singh said through advocacy and legal interventions, the CMFI and its partners have pushed for stronger judicial recognition of child marriage as a criminal offence, not just a social evil.

"This momentum was further strengthened by two landmark judicial interventions one in the Supreme Court and the other in Rajasthan High Court that became milestones in the fight against child marriage. In April 2024, the Rajasthan High Court issued a historic directive mandating that all child marriages solemnised in the state be compulsorily reported and registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006," Singh said.

"The Court further directed strict penal action against families, officiants, and community members who enable such marriages, ensuring that law enforcement could no longer turn a blind eye to this illegal practice," he added.

"Soon after, in October 2024, the Supreme Court in Society recognised child marriage as a grave human rights violation and set out a comprehensive framework to eradicate it by 2030. The Court’s directives reinforced stronger policies, greater investments in enforcement, convergence between governments and civil society, knowledge-building through awareness and training, ecosystem strengthening at village and district levels, and technology-driven systems for reporting and monitoring," he said.

Singh said, "Looking ahead, CMFI aims to institutionalise a nationwide framework for prevention by embedding its model into both government and community systems."

According to Singh, plans include expanding interventions in 451 high-prevalence districts, covering geographies where child marriage rates exceed the national average of 23.3 percent and scaling up Bal Vivah Mukt Gram Panchayats (Child-Marriage-Free Villages), led by panchayats, SHGs, women’s groups, and faith leaders.

"The other plans include strengthening birth registration and compulsory marriage registration systems, making age verification fool-proof; continuous training of duty-bearers (police, CMPOs, CWCs, teachers) to ensure every report of child marriage gets timely legal response," he added.

On role of NGOs and the public in fight against child marriage, he said,"The NGOs Act as the bridge between communities and government, through leagal intervention on the ground, providing alerts, awareness campaigns, and evidence-based advocacy. Parents, teachers, youth, and community members must refuse underage marriages, report attempts, and create a culture where every child’s right to childhood is protected."