Hyderabad: Young girls have not reached a stage in their lives to make right decisions on their own. When the parents whom the child believes, stops her education, takes away her decision making ability and forces early marriage on her, she is left with no choice but to accept her fate, a psychologist said.
The reasons for parents to conduct such marriages are different in rural and urban areas.
“In rural areas, they believe that the girl needs to be married early and are not actually aware of the legal age. In urban areas, child marriage is basically a punishment for the girl. If the girl is seen talking to a boy or caught moving closely with him, she is grounded, her education is stopped and a match is fixed, Dr S. Chandana,” a child psychologist, said. Middle-class and upper-middle class people know the rules and are aware of the effects but still go ahead, she said.
“Even after so many awareness programmes and rules, there has not been much change in the rates of child marriages. Officials literally have to get to the spot physically, avert the wedding, rescue the girl and keep her in a shelter home for days. The belief of people regarding this issue needs to be addressed,” said an official from Rachakonda Police.
