84% of the children are Hindus: IndiaSpend.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
An analysis of census data by IndiaSpend, a not-for-profit journalism organization, has revealed that approximately 12 million Indian children were married before the age of 10. Eighty four percent of them are Hindus and 11 percent Muslims, says the study.
The study notes that 7.84 million of married children were girls and eight out of 10 illiterate children who were married were also girls. This reinstates the fact that girls are always at the receiving end of religious misconceptions.
The proportion of child marriage in rural areas is more when compared to cities; 72% of all Hindu girls and 58.5% Muslim girls married before 10 were from rural areas. A recent study by IndiaSpend has found that rural women marries two years earlier than urban women.
Hindu and Muslim women have the lowest age at first marriage averaging around 16.7 years. The average age of Christian women at first marriage is 20.6 years and that of Sikh women is 21.9 years. Jain women marry at an average age of 20.8 years.
Teenage pregnancy among women without any education is nine times higher than women with 12 years or more education, it said.
The study has found that the level of education and early marriage are directly correlated. 44 percent of married children below 10 were illiterate and 80 percent of them were girls. Women are 40 percent more illiterate when compared to men. 1,403 females have not undergone institutional education for every 1000 men who have not.
In underdeveloped countries, girl children are considered liabilities for the parents. They are not given proper education and more often they are compelled to get married well before the legal age.
Getting married and pregnant at lower ages affects the physical and mental health of girls. Quality education and job opportunities may help them protect themselves from the practice of child marriage.