The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Maharashtra government to undertake innovative measures to sensitise citizens from tribal areas on the minimum age of marriage for girls after it was told that girls as young as 12-13 years of age were being married and made to bear children soon after, which was one of the main reasons for deaths of children due to malnutrition in those areas.
The court asked the petitioners to give comprehensive suggestions on ways to deal with the issue of child marriages in tribal areas. It also asked the state government and the district authorities to submit by April 8 a report and give other details, including budgetary provisions for healthcare facilities as recommended in senior IPS officer Dr Chhering Dorje’s report following his visit to the region.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik was hearing a bunch of PILs, including those filed by Dr Rajendra Burma and activist Bandu Sampatrao Sane, on malnutrition among children in Melghat. The HC had asked the state government to consider formulating a long-term plan which may include preventing migration of tribals by making sources of employment available to them and ensuring every tribal person is tracked and taken care of.
On Monday, the bench orally remarked: “From a very reliable source, we’ve learnt that girl children are given away in marriage at 12-13, they bear children at 15 and 16, and therefore it is one of the reasons for the death of mother and child.”
CJ Datta said there was a need for sensitising tribals about permissible age for marriage. “They need to be educated about this…Otherwise, no matter how much is spent, it will go down the drain,” it added.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni for the state government submitted that two aspects — child marriages and lack of use of birth-control pills leading to multiple pregnancies – were behind the problems faced by the tribal people. He added that the tribal citizens consult the local Tantrik first and approach the primary health care hospital only after the said Tantrik is unable to mitigate their health problems.
“Can you conduct a survey and tell us how many girl children below the age of 18 are married? We will have to respect their customs, but they will have to be sensitised too and we will have to save the girl children. There should not be even a single death. There has to be a separate budget allocation for it,” the bench told the state.
Seeking a response from state authorities on the matter, HC posted further hearing to April 8.