No. of Cases Registered (CR) under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 during 2014, 2015 and 2016

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 
MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 

LOK SABHA 
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4059 
TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.01.2019 

CHILD MARRIAGE 
4059. SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM: 
Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: 
  • (a) whether it is a fact that although child marriage is prohibited and constitute as an offence, the Hindu Marriage Act recognises it as voidable, but valid; 
  • (b) if so, the details thereof; 
  • (c) the total number of child marriages reported across the country during the last three years and the current year and recognised as void; and 
  • (d) whether the Government proposes to make child marriage legal and if so, the details thereof? 
CHILD+MARRIAGE
ANSWER 
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF 
WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 
(DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR) 
(a) & (b)  Presently, as per the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA), any marriage where either of the contracting party is a child at the time of the marriage is voidable at the option of the contracting parties if they approach the court within two years of attaining their majority. 
(c)  Prevalence data of Child Marriage is not available on annual basis. This is collected in Census and National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which are conducted periodically every few years. Data on the reporting of child marriage is available on annual basis from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Due to improved awareness, these reports have increased from 2014, 2015 to 2016. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the State-wise Cases Registered (CR) under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 during 2014, 2015 and 2016 are at Annexure-I. 
(d)  The Government of India proposes to amend “The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006”. The proposed amendments would declare child marriage void ab initio instead of being voidable at the option of the contracting parties who were child at the time of marriage. 
Annexure -I 
Annexure referred to in reply to Part (c) to the Lok Sabha Un-starred Question No. 4059 for 04.01.2019 regarding ‘Child Marriage’ 
No. of Cases Registered (CR) under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 during 2014, 2015 and 2016

Sl. No. State/UT
2014
2015
2016
1
Andhra Pradesh
16
15
19
2
Arunachal Pradesh
0
0
0
3
Assam
4
14
23
4
Bihar
10
0
0
5
Chhattisgarh
2
6
8
6
Goa
0
0
0
7
Gujarat
16
9
12
8
Haryana
15
14
14
9
Himachal Pradesh
4
1
0
10
Jammu & Kashmir
0
0
0
11
Jharkhand
1
1
4
12
Karnataka
44
35
51
13
Kerala
19
13
8
14
Madhya Pradesh
15
9
9
15
Maharashtra
14
24
16
16
Manipur
0
0
0
17
Meghalaya
0
0
0
18
Mizoram
0
0
0
19
Nagaland
0
0
0
20
Odisha
0
1
15
21
Punjab
2
5
8
22
Rajasthan
5
6
12
23
Sikkim
0
0
0
24
Tamil Nadu
47
77
55
25
Telangana
13
15
19
26
Tripura
1
2
1
27
Uttar Pradesh
10
4
3
28
Uttarakhand
0
1
1
29
West Bengal
37
40
41
30
A & N Islands
0
1
1
31
Chandigarh
0
0
0
32
D & N Haveli
0
0
0
33
Daman & Diu
0
0
0
34
Delhi
2
0
1
35
Lakshadweep
0
0
0
36
Puducherry
3
0
5
Total
280
293
326

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