60 percent of Nepali girls get married before 18

Kathmandu, July 28 At least 60 percent girls in Nepal get married before they are 18, and as a result the number of maternal deaths caused by child birth complications is on the higher side.

The maternal mortality rate in Nepal at present is 281 per every 100,000 live births and the child mortality rate is 48 per 1,000 live births.

According to a report in the local newspaper The Rising Nepal, the Gender Department of Family Planning Association of Nepal recently discussed a paper titled "Present Status of Child Marriage" by Professor Ram Sharan Pathak of Tribhuvan University.

Professor Pathak claims in his paper that marriages of children aged between seven and 18 years is still in practice and one fourth of these girls are pregnant.

In Nepal, legally a marriage is allowed after 18 years of age with parental consent and after 20 years if the boy and girl choose to marry on their own.

A research showed that 78 percent mothers in Nepal give birth at home and 53 percent of girls between 15 to 19 years of age do not take advice on topics like use of contraceptives and safe motherhood methods.

ANI