Poverty drives family to opt for child marriage in Mahakalpada

Kendrapada, Orissa, Jun 10 (UNI) Driven by illiteracy and acute poverty, people in Mahakalpada block, a coastal pocket in Orissa, were forced to solemnize their daughters' marriage at an early age.

As many as 40 child marriages were solemnized in Mahakalpada block during the last three years, a survey conducted by 'Pragati', an NGO said.

Such a practice is seen more in the Bengali speaking villages in Mahakalpada block ever since the 1999 super cyclone played havoc in the coastal pockets of Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts in Orissa.

The survey revealed that on an average 15 minor girls got married every year in these far flung coastal pockets of Mahakalpada block and Rajnagar block.

While some attributed the reason to the age old practice and tradition followed by the Bengalis, others said illiteracy and poverty forced them to give their daughters' marriage at an early age.

Social Worker Arpita Sahu maintained that the gullible parents in these coastal pockets were not aware of a law that prohibited and punished the child marriage.

'' They don't have the idea that by getting their daughters married at an early age, they have actually forced these little girls to suffer from various psychological disorders and diseases.'' She said most of the parents felt that it would be an uphill task to find a suitable groom for their daughter once she crossed sixteen years.

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