Maharashtra: child marriage cases at a five-year high during the pandemic
This special Mirror Now report looks at one of the distressing effects of the Coronavirus pandemic: a sharp rise in child marriages in Maharashtra, India.
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The number of child marriages in the state has doubled compared with last year. The comparison is striking: last year's figure covers a whole year, while this year's covers only the months up to October. It is the highest figure the state has seen in the past 5 years.
Poverty and uncertainty during the pandemic are pushing families to marry off their children before they reach the legal age.
The report names several reasons for the surge: financial security, closed schools, migrants returning to their villages, and less scrutiny by police and officials during the pandemic.