Villages in Maha’s Palghar dist. say No to child marriages

Palghar: Villages in the predominantly tribal Palghar district of Maharashtra have decided to boycott families that practice child marriages, as a step towards putting an end to the illegal practice, police said on Saturday.

As a result of the Palghar police's 'Jan Samwad Abhiyan' initiative, several villages in Wada and Vikramgad talukas of the district have now decided to boycott families that practice child marriages, an official from Wada police said.

District Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil has through his meetings appealed to villagers to prevent child marriages in their areas, he said.

Several gram panchayats and social organisations have taken a lead to prohibit child marriages, which often lead to underage pregnancies and premature deliveries among other problems among women, the official said.

During a function organised earlier this week, villagers of Khuded (Bilal Pada) and Vijay Nagar in Vikramgad took an oath to not allow marriages of girls below the age of 18, he said.

The villagers also decided that those who violate this norm will have to face social boycott and legal action, he said.

This was a welcome move and such decisions are also being taken in several gram panchayats in their special gram sabhas, said Lahu Dinda, the sarpanch of Manivali village in Wada taluka. Many initiatives implemented through the Janasamvad abhiyan were of public interest and they have received tremendous support from villagers, inspector Pradeep Gite of Wada police station said.

With inputs from PTI